Project update - September 2022
30 September 2022
Meet Jason, our Community Liaison Officer
We’re pleased to have another local on board! Jason Pickering joined our team recently in the role of Community Liaison Officer. He’s based in our Gippsland office.
Jason grew up in Yarram and is a passionate Gippslander. After working as a tradesman and in offshore construction, Jason studied environmental science and has been working on local environmental projects. He’ll bring this experience and another local voice to the team.
He’s excited to work with the community to shape the project and realise local opportunities.
Jason (middle) joins Stella (right) and Lachlan (left) as local members of our team
Come along to talk with us
This month we’ve been out speaking with locals at Woodside Beach and the Traralgon Farmers Market. It was great to share an update about the project and listen to feedback. Thanks to everyone who came along.
Here’s where to find us during October:
- Gippsland Strzelecki Koala Festival, Sunday 16 October 10:30am, Old Gippstown, Moe
- Melbourne Boat Show, Thursday 20 October – Sunday 23 October, Docklands
We’ll also be running project information sessions in November, where you can come along to hear a short presentation and talk with our team.
- Yarram – Saturday 5 November, 9 am-11 am, Yarram Secondary College
- Foster – Saturday 5 November, 2 pm-4 pm, Foster War Memorial Arts Centre
- Webinar – Monday 7 November, 5:30 pm-6:30 pm on Zoom
- Morwell – Wednesday 9 November, 5:30 pm-7:30 pm, Italian Australian Club
- Woodside – Thursday 10 November, 5:30 pm-7:30 pm, Woodside Hall
You can also contact us on 1800 340 340, info@starofthesouth.com.au or by visiting our Gippsland office.
Star of the South project team at Woodside Beach Surf Life Saving Club
Angling and offshore wind
Did you know that anglers in the USA and UK can throw a line inside offshore wind farms? We want to do the same here. We don't want to exclude boats or angling. In fact, we'd like to help make fishing in the area even better.
It’s important that we work together and have the right measures in place to keep everyone safe, especially during construction.
Help us plan for sharing the waters safely by telling us about your fishing and ideas for how we can work together.
Check out this video which shows how the wind farm could look from a boat.
Young minds solving real world problems
We've been working with Yarram Secondary College students as part of the 10-week Broadening Horizons program. This program challenges students to identify and creatively solve real-world problems with support from industry.
This year students came up with ideas to:
- Protect marine mammals using bubble curtains and walls around turbines during construction
- Deter birds from flying close to turbines with sound signal devices
- Install artificial reefs outside the wind farm area to increase biodiversity.
Congratulations to all the students involved.
Presentation materials created by Yarram Secondary College students
Continuing energy generation in Gippsland
This week AGL announced that it will retire Loy Yang A Power Station in 2035.
Loy Yang A workers have made a huge contribution to powering Victoria. For them, this is not easy news to hear. We also know from our conversations with workers that it’s not unexpected.
The planned closure of Yallourn in 2028 and Loy Yang A in 2035 only strengthens our resolve to build Australia’s first offshore wind project this decade.
Offshore wind is set to play an important role in keeping the lights on, prices down, and creating long-term energy jobs as Australia moves to a more renewable energy system.
Strong winds, a skilled local workforce and good grid infrastructure make Gippsland the ideal place to get this industry up and running – continuing its proud legacy of powering Victoria.
There’s still a lot of work ahead, and not a moment to lose.
We’ll continue working with power station owners, workers, local industry, education providers, unions and the Latrobe Valley Authority on ways to support workers and businesses looking to make the shift into offshore wind.
Our team members Erin and Katrina toured Yallourn Power Station earlier this year with Yallourn Transition Leader, Lisa
Turbines and how they come together at sea
Check out this image of a ‘nacelle’. This is the centre part of a wind turbine, where the three blades connect in.
This prototype for a 15 MW turbine has been created in Denmark by Vestas – one of only a few offshore wind turbine manufacturers in the world.
As you can tell by the size of the people next to it, it's a huge piece of equipment.
We haven't selected a turbine for Star of the South yet, but we're looking at turbines in the 12 MW-18 MW range. Read our turbine factsheet to find out more about turbines and how we’ll choose one.
If you’re curious about how turbines are installed, check out this video explaining how it all comes together at sea.
15 MW wind turbine nacelle prototype – Photo credit Vestas