Spanish energy giant Iberdrola – one of the biggest renewable energy project developers in the world – has become the latest big energy player declaring its interest in the offshore wind market in Australia.
Iberdrola – which already owns more than 1GW of wind, solar and battery projects in Australia, boosted by its purchase of local listed firm Infigen Energy, says it has eyes on offshore wind opportunities in the Gippsland region east of Melbourne in Victoria.
The Victorian government has announced a target of 9GW of offshore wind by 2040, and wants its first production from offshore wind to be delivered by 2028 to help fill the gap created by coal plant closures.
The first auction is expected in the next year, and Iberdrola – which already has more than 39GW of wind, solar and battery storage capacity around the world – says it has been looking at its options.
“Iberdrola has been analysing this market for some time and is identifying projects to participate in this auction, which is expected to take place at the end of 2022 or in the first half of 2023,” it said in its results presentation released overnight in Madrid.
“We have significant growth expectations (in Australia), thanks to our pipeline and the increased support of clean energy provided by the federal and regional government,” chairman and CEO Ignacio Galan said in a call with analysts later in the day.
Iberdrola’s interest adds to the growing throng of big international and new local players looking at the offshore wind market in Australia, buoyed by plunging costs in the UK and Europe, and the ability to plug into major load and transmission centres which are sited on the coast lines in southern Australia.
Among those to have declared an interest are Macquarie Group’s newly created Corio, Danish groups Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, German’s wpd, and new players Flotation Energy, BlueFloat, Auatralis and Energy Estate.
The most advanced project in Australia is considered to be the 2.2GW Star of the South project in Gippsland, and there is now more than 20GW of proposed offshore wind capacity in Australian water.
Iberdrola has 1.25GW of offshore wind capacity in operation, and another 5.5GW under construction, plans for a 3GW offshore wind hub in the UK, and a target of 95GW of total renewable capacity by 2030.
It recently won 1.3GW of capacity in the latest UK auction result, which delivered surprisingly low prices that makes it the lowest cost source of new generation in the country.
In Australia, Iberdolar is commissioning the country’s biggest hybrid wind and solar project, the 317MW Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park in South Australia, after a three week pause caused by “oscillation” issues that caused flickering for consumers in the state.
The company has also started construction of the 146MW Flyers Creek wind project in NSW, and the 245MW Avonlie solar projects in NSW.
See also RenewEconomy’s Offshore Wind Farm Map of Australia
And our latest podcast:Â Energy Insiders Podcast: Can offshore wind float in Australia?
And:Â Energy Insiders Podcast: The energy crisis, and offshore wind
