Latest news with #BlueFloatEnergy
ABC News
5 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
Blue Float Energy abandons $10 billion Gippsland Dawn offshore wind proposal
The developer of a proposed $10 billion Victorian offshore wind farm has abandoned the project, prompting fears Australia may not reach its renewable energy targets. Gippsland Dawn was to be a 2-gigawatt offshore wind farm built between Paradise Beach and Ocean Grange on the Gippsland coast. The proposal received major project status from the federal government in November, and promised to deliver power to more than one million homes. But the company behind the project, Blue Float Energy, withdrew from offshore wind internationally after major shareholder Quantum Capital said it was no longer commercially viable to invest in the sector. The decision also impacts a planned offshore wind farm in the Illawarra region. The exit comes at a time of volatility in the energy market. The Victorian government will hold an auction in September to determine which renewable energy projects get built first. Bruce Mountain, director of Victoria University's Victoria Energy Policy Centre, said the fact an operator was pulling out without trying to sell their assets was a sign that things were off track. "It is surprising that [Blue Float] did not manage to find someone else to buy their operations, so that indicates [there is] not a huge amount of interest from others in taking over the options," Professor Mountain said. "I think it will impact others … and others that are not in a strong position will be weakened by this." The Victorian government has a renewable energy target of 40 per cent this year, increasing to 95 per cent by 2035. That includes at least 2 gigawatts from offshore wind by 2032. Nationally, Australia has a target of achieving 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030. Professor Mountain said there was real doubt over whether those targets would now be achieved. "We're not on target in Victoria and we're not on target nationally at all," he said. Professor Mountain said significant delays between policy announcements, community consultation and construction meant the current market was no longer commercially appealing for operators. "There has been a surge in offshore wind development costs globally and those costs have not yet come down," he said. "The economics of offshore wind now is much weaker than was thought to be, say three to four years ago." Electrical Trades Union (ETU) national secretary Michael Wright has called on the government to clear a "bottleneck" of energy project approvals. Jobs and Skills Australia estimates the country will require two million workers in building and engineering trades by 2050, to prepare Australia's energy grid and industrial base for net zero carbon emissions, including up to 84,000 additional electricians. "What I have a concern about is, are we going to have an industry that can support training up the thousands or tens of thousands of electrical workers that we need to build this out?" Mr Wright said. A spokesperson for the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said it recognised that offshore wind developers were facing global challenges relating to costs and uncertainty, but that a "high level of investment interest" in the Australian industry remained. The federal government believes it is on track to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target. A spokesperson from the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action said the Commonwealth had approved offshore wind projects for feasibility licences in Gippsland that could generate 23 gigawatts of electricity — more than enough to meet Victoria's energy needs.
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Renewable targets dealt fresh blow as major Victorian offshore windfarm abandoned after energy giant failed to find buyer
A significant Victorian offshore wind project has been scrapped after US-backed energy giant BlueFloat confirmed it had failed to find a buyer. The company was reportedly mulling the sale of its Gippsland project off the Victorian coast in early July, with the development considered essential for meeting state and federal emission reduction deadlines. BlueFloat Energy acquired a feasibility license late last year to construct the Victorian offshore wind facility, and further secured a preliminary development license to build an offshore wind complex in New South Wales off the Illawarra coast. However, industry insiders told The Australian on Tuesday that after weeks of attempting to lock down a buyer, BlueFloat had failed in arranging the sale of the embattled development. Victoria, which stands as one of Australia's most fossil fuel dependent states has some of the most stringent renewable energy targets in the nation, and aims to reach 95 per cent clean energy generation by 2035. The dumping of the flagship Victorian facility is one of the first Australian casualties of the increasingly beleaguered offshore wind sector, with US President Donald Trump dampening global investment by tearing up mammoth subsidies to the industry. The sector has also faced lengthening completion timelines, conflicting state and federal regulation and a sharp downturn in private investment despite exorbitant government funding packages. Energy experts have also raised alarm at the concerning lack of transmission infrastructure to support offshore wind, paired with declining domestic manufacturing capabilities and persistent labour shortages. Victoria, unlike other states, has placed offshore wind at the heart of its decarbonisation strategy and set a bold target of producing nine gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2040 – which the state government claims is enough to power more than 6.5 million homes. The company is reportedly looking to exit the Australian market entirely, which would threaten its NSW South Pacific project in Illawarra. Sources close to the company said BlueFloat remained committed to finding a potential buyer for the NSW facility, despite the development relying on technology to float turbines - which is both risky and costly. The NSW South Pacific Project also has numerous local competitors, unlike Victoria. A company spokesperson told the ABC that 'BlueFloat continues to investigate funding options for its Australian projects.' The discontinuation of the Gippsland Dawn precinct is expected to raise alarm bells about the viability of offshore wind at federal and state levels, with both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan touting the technology as one of the most crucial elements to Australia's energy transition. However, BlueFloat is not the only global energy consortium facing mounting difficulties in Australia with Norwegian energy firm Equinor quietly dropping its plan to construct a wind farm in the Bass Strait off the north coast of Tasmania. Equinor is also yet to formally accept an offshore wind development licence in its last remaining Australian project off the coast of Newcastle, NSW. Victorian Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio has repeatedly said the Victorian government remains committed to overseeing an expansion of offshore wind projects despite the raft of headwinds facing the industry. Offshore wind is considered to be far more capital intensive and substantially less structurally stable than onshore wind generation.
Sky News AU
02-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
‘It's not going to happen': Labor Party criticised for costly renewable goals
One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson discusses BlueFloat Energy considering selling off its Victorian project. 'It's not going to happen, and businesses are going under, industries and manufacturing are going under, the normal household can't pay their bills,' Ms Hanson told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. 'Is going to cost the taxpayers … huge amounts of money.'
