The feasibility stage management plan for Ørsted’s Gippsland offshore wind farms 1 and 2 has been approved by Australia’s Offshore Infrastructure Regulator (OIR).
The management plan details how activities will be safely carried out in compliance with the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act (OEI Act).
The plan allows the developer to begin feasibility activities, including a wind measurement campaign and geotechnical investigations, within the feasibility license area in the Bass Strait, approximately 56 kilometres off the Gippsland coast.
These activities will cover geotechnical testing and sampling of the seabed, collecting essential data to help Ørsted understand the composition of the seafloor to inform the overall design of its proposed offshore wind farm, the developer said.
The geotechnical survey program is being performed by a survey vessel and will include seabed cone penetration testing and grab sampling, and follows preliminary works undertaken in Victorian waters.
In addition, two units of Floating Light Detection and Ranging (FLiDAR) systems will be deployed to help the company measure the wind, weather, and ocean (metocean) conditions. These will be installed and anchored on location in two places within the license area, where they will remain for up to two years.
Ørsted was one of the first companies to secure a feasibility license for wind projects proposed to be built offshore Gippsland.
The project sites have the potential to generate a combined 4.8 GW of renewable energy (2.8 GW Gippsland 1 and 2 GW Gippsland 2), which could power the equivalent of four million Australian homes, according to the developer.
Marine environmental baseline surveys kicked off at the end of last year and will continue during 2025.