Wind Energy – Australia
The Offshore Infrastructure Regulator (OIR) has approved Iberdrola Australia’s feasibility stage Management Plan for the Aurora Green Offshore Wind Project, located off Gippsland in Victoria.
The approval marks a significant step in the development of the 3GW project, located 25+ kilometres off the Ninety Mile Beach coast.
The Management Plan details how Iberdrola Australia will safely carry out activities for metocean studies in relation to its feasibility licence area to collect information on wind, waves, currents, water levels, meteorological and oceanographic data, which will in turn support planning and design of the offshore wind farm.
The studies will involve a Floating Light, Detection and Ranging (FLiDAR) buoy to determine wind speed, direction and other atmospheric variables like temperature and pressure; and a wave buoy and seabed frame to measure waves, tides, water levels, currents and seawater temperature.
Iberdrola Australia holds a feasibility license to conduct studies to evaluate the Aurora Green Offshore Wind Project site from a technical standpoint. Geophysical investigations were carried out earlier this year to collect information about the seabed’s composition and features.