Wind Energy – Sea Fern Floating Wind
Cork-headquartered renewable energy company Simply Blue Group has announced plans to develop the Sea Fern floating offshore wind project off the coast of Australia.
Simply Blue is part of a consortium of global wind energy consultants including Subsea7 and Spark Renewables behind Sea Fern, which aims to generate up to 2GW (gigawatts) in the newly-dedicated Hunter region for renewable energy developments off the coast of New South Wales in the Pacific Ocean.
This latest project adds to Simply Blue’s portfolio of more than 10GW of floating wind under development and other successful projects.
The Sea Fern project is currently at the inception phase and backers are applying for a Feasibility Licence under the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021.
The seven-year feasibility licence period will enable the consortium to undertake the necessary technical, environmental and social impact studies, approvals and consultation, to ensure the project will be viable.
The developers hope to start construction of the wind farm by 2030 if they are successful in receiving this licence. Operations are then expected to run through to the 2060s and beyond.
