Funding boost for Australia’s first offshore wind project

Star of the South – Australia’s first offshore wind project – today entered a $43.1 million partnership with the Victorian Government to progress key development activities and kick-start a local offshore wind industry.

The project has welcomed the opportunity to work together with government to accelerate offshore wind development in Victoria. Offshore wind offers a large-scale energy solution and can deliver thousands of jobs, right where and when they are needed most.

The boost will allow Star of the South to continue investing in site investigations in Gippsland, including onshore and offshore geotechnical investigations, transmission design, industry development and ongoing community and stakeholder engagement. 

This partnership will see the Star of the South invest $23.6 million and the Victorian Government contribute $19.5 million to co-fund the pre-construction development activities, with knowledge being shared to support the creation of an exciting new offshore wind sector in Victoria. 

Offshore wind is one of the fastest-growing energy technologies globally, offering a consistent and reliable form of renewable power that complements onshore generation, while creating new jobs and economic investment in regional areas. 

Booming in the UK and Europe and taking off in the US and Asia – offshore wind is a competitive global market with governments around the world seeking to drive investment and create settings to build a prosperous energy industry for the future. 

Located off Gippsland’s south coast, Star of the South would harness Bass Strait’s strong offshore winds with up to 200 turbines in the sea, connecting to the grid in the Latrobe Valley – one of the strongest points in the National Electricity Market.

If the project is feasible and proceeds to construction, it would support Victoria to meet its emissions reduction targets by powering up to 1.2 million Victorian homes with clean energy. The project would provide jobs for energy workers with the potential to create 2000 direct Victorian jobs, and 200 ongoing local jobs once it’s up and running.

If built to its full capacity, Star of the South would generate up to 2.2 GW of clean energy, providing around 20 per cent of Victoria’s energy needs. The project is jointly owned by leading renewable energy developer Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Australian Founders, bringing global and local knowledge to the sector’s development.

 

Quotes attributable to Star of the South CEO, Casper Frost Thorhauge

“This is an important step forward for offshore wind in Australia – this partnership will enable us to keep investing where its most needed, while ensuring benefits for government and the community through knowledge-sharing.”

“We welcome the Victorian Government’s funding commitment and thank them for their leadership and partnership to progress the development of a local offshore wind industry.”

“Star of the South would continue Gippsland’s proud history of power generation into the future and make Victoria the home of offshore wind in Australia.”

“Governments around the world are looking to offshore wind to power their energy systems into the future and Victoria is leading the way – attracting investment and creating jobs for workers in the regions.”

 

About Star of the South

Star of the South is Australia’s first offshore wind project, proposed to be located off the south coast of Gippsland in Victoria. Investigations at sea commenced in 2019 after the project was granted an Exploration Licence from the Commonwealth Government.  

The project is in the feasibility phase with environmental assessments currently underway to support planning and approvals. If Star of the South is approved and proceeds to construction, the project could start construction as early as 2025 with full power toward the end of the decade.

The project is jointly owned by Australian Founders - Terry Kallis, Andy Evans and Peter Sgardelis – with investment and majority ownership from leading offshore wind developer Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

 

About Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S (CIP) is a fund management company focused on energy infrastructure including offshore wind, onshore wind, solar PV, biomass and energy-from-waste, transmission and distribution, reserve capacity and storage, and other energy assets like Power-to-X. CIP has approximately 250 employees and offices in Copenhagen, Hamburg, London, New York, Tokyo, Utrecht and Melbourne.

CIP manages eight funds and has approximately EUR 16 billion under management. PensionDanmark was founding and sole investor in CI I and CI A I. Today CIP’s funds have approximately 100 international institutional investors from the Nordics, Continental Europe, the UK, Israel, Asia, Australia, and North America and multi-lateral organisations e.g. EIB.

CIP was founded in 2012 by senior executives from the energy industry in cooperation with PensionDanmark.

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