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Star of the South starts fish and mammal surveys

By: Tom Russell 30/09/2020 Star of the South

General Windfarms

Developers of the Star of the South offshore wind farm are collecting data on fish and marine mammals including sharks, whales and seals that will be used to inform environmental assessments and approvals.

There are currently 10 underwater monitoring devices anchored to the seafloor, collecting data on whales, seals and coastal currents and tides. A further 20 monitoring devices, incorporating anchors, acoustic receivers and sub-surface buoys , will be installed in October to collect data on Great White Sharks.

Deployment of equipment is expected to take three days between 4 October and 31 November 2020. Equipment will be deployed from the Dell Richey II vessel. Retrieval of instrument moorings is scheduled for 1 March and 30 April 2021.

Star of the South announced previously that it had deployed two seabed mounted acoustic wave and current (AWAC) measurement instruments as part of the environmental impact assessment studies. This will provide information on the nearshore wave and current climate in the broader project area.

Deployment of instruments using Seapride MB833 XVV (UVI 432486) was executed in September 2020. Schedule maintenance visits are expected between 1 December 2020 and 15 January 2021 and 1 March 2021 and 30 April 2021. Equipment will be recovered between 15 July 2021 and 31 August 2021.

The developers also plan to set up a Community Advisory Group with people from across Gippsland so we can share information, answer questions and seek local advice as we continue planning Australia's first offshore wind project. We're excited to have Gippslanders from Lakes Entrance to Waratah Bay, and from the coast to the Latrobe Valley involved.

Star of the South is expected to have the potential to generate up to 20% of Victoria’s electricity needs and would feed power into the national grid via an underground cable to the Latrobe Valley. If the project is found to be feasible, and subject to government approval, construction could commence in 2022, with power generation in 2024. It represents a potential AU$8bn (€5bn) investment. Approval for an exploration licence was granted in March 2019.

There are no existing offshore wind projects in Australia. The developers are working with government on how best to investigate and develop the project. It is expected that the project will need a number of approvals from various government bodies.

For more information on offshore wind farm developments worldwide, click here. Alternatively you can view projects worldwide on 4C Offshore's interactive map.

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Star of the South starts fish and mammal surveys

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