Energy Minister Chris Bowen may see the Illawarra offshore wind zone as a jobs bonanza, but early community reaction to the prospect of hundreds of wind turbines off the Illawarra coast is mixed.
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Mr Bowen announced the proposed offshore wind zone at the Business Illawarra Clean Energy Summit and Expo at the former Shinagawa Warehouse within the BlueScope steelworks in Port Kembla.
Where the warehouse once would have been a thriving hub of activity, occupied by some of the thousands of staff who worked at the steelworks every day, it now sits largely unused.
Except on Monday, August 14, the warehouse was filled with green energy hopefuls, and Mr Bowen said the area would once again return to being an employment hub.
"The proposed area would support 2500 during construction and 1250 ongoing jobs," Mr Bowen said.
The zone stretches from Wombarra to Gerringong and is between 10 and 30 kilometres offshore.
An area is carved out at the southern end of the zone, between Kiama and Gerringong, which Mr Bowen said was due to a protected reef area.
"We've consulted with various government departments, the Department of Defence has a strong interest in the Nowra end, for example, with Jervis Bay," he said.
During the consultation process on the offshore wind zone in the Hunter, height limits on wind turbines were imposed due to the zone's closeness to the RAAF Williamtown airbase.
A number of naval exercise areas exist off the Illawarra coast, but Mr Bowen said Defence were "supportive" of the zone.
"They are comfortable and supportive of the zone," he said.
What impact a potential future submarine base will have on the wind farm zone was less clear, however Mr Bowen said the Department had been consulted on plans for the zone.
What may be more of a sticking point will be the impact on views and the environment.
In 2022, Kiama Council voted against a proposal for offshore wind turbines off the Kiama coast, and while Mr Bowen said he had yet to speak with Kiama Mayor Neil Reilly, the municipality was welcome to submit a response.
At the other end of the zone, Ray Smith, president of the Thirroul Village Committee, said while those in his community were all for green energy, offshore wind was a separate matter.
"Some probably don't mind the thought of seeing in excess of 100 wind generators out there, which will be visible, others aren't so much in favour," he said.
Mr Smith listed impact on marine life, views and the interaction with shipping as sticking points.
David Winterbottom, secretary of Neighbourhood Forum 5, which covers central Wollongong suburbs, listed similar concerns, and said while it was early days in terms of the planning process, there were concerns about reducing the potential impact of hundreds of wind turbines.
"To some degree, you can do some mitigation, there's no question about that, but whether that's adequate or not remains to be seen."
Business and unions welcomed the next step in offshore wind for the Illawarra, with executive director of Business Illawarra Adam Zarth saying the project was a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity.
'Now we need the business community and Illawarra residents to participate positively in the consultative process that will hopefully yield an offshore wind zone for the region which will generate clean and reliable energy for the region and beyond," Mr Zarth said.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary Steve Murphy said offshore wind gave the Illawarra a chance to become a green manufacturing powerhouse, but hinged upon local involvement and investment in skills.
"The government must put policies in place to make sure local jobs and workers are prioritised," Mr Murphy said.
NSW Planning Minister and Wollongong MP Paul Scully said he had directed his department to look for ways to maximise local content in offshore wind projects.
"The NSW Government will work with the Renewable Energy Sector Board on how we can improve local content rules that will support rapid investment in production capacity for both onshore and offshore projects."
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