$10B or $60B, this is still the most expensive power on earth
In ADVANCE’s renewables documentary, Dollars and Destruction, I outline how the Hunter Offshore Wind Zone is being sold to us as a $10 billion clean energy revolution.
But don’t be fooled, it’s shaping up to be a $60 billion plus disaster that Australians simply can’t afford.
As someone who calls the Hunter home, I’m appalled by the lack of transparency and the destruction and costs being foisted on our community, country, and untouched oceans.
The Labor, Green, and Teal’s pitch is full of dangerous promises, but the hard numbers that tell a very different story.
Floating Offshore Wind Generation (FOWG), the technology at the centre of this “plan”, is one of the most expensive energy solutions on the planet.
CSIRO’s own GENCOST estimates show FOWG costs nearly 40 per cent more than fixed offshore wind projects. Australia also has zero experience, zero supply lines, and zero capability in any form of offshore wind, let alone floating ones.
And let’s not forget who’s trying to run this show.
Equinor, one of the companies granted a feasibility license, has limited experience with smaller FOWG projects, but even their track record shows costs per GW of $12.4 billion to $16.7 billion.
A 5GW project like the Hunter Offshore Wind Proposal is likely to cost between $62 and $83.6 billion once you account for the massive technical and logistical challenges.
Oceanex (Equinor’s partner in this venture) has no experience in building or operating any floating offshore wind developments.
This is not just a case of inexperience, it’s 100 per cent hubris. The Hunter project is proposing to install over 300 massive turbines in water depths of up to 1000 meters, far exceeding anything ever attempted in FOWG history.
A project of this scale also needs huge floating offshore substations which will add billions of dollars to the overall cost.
Here’s the kicker: even simpler fixed offshore wind projects cost more than the $10 billion figure being peddled for the feasibility proposal.
The published estimate isn’t optimistic, it’s absurd, a blatant insult to the intelligence of every taxpayer in Australia.
This is about calling out incompetence and demanding accountability.
If this project proceeds based on fantasy figures and false promises, it’s not the bureaucrats or foreign energy executives who will pay the price. It’s us. We’ll be stuck with soaring taxes, skyrocketing energy bills, and a region left to deal with the fallout of a multi-billion-dollar failure.
Australians deserve better than this. We deserve honesty. We deserve leadership that respects our hard-earned money and doesn’t throw it at untested, overpriced ideological fantasies.
This project isn’t a solution; it’s a financial time bomb. It’s time to stand up and demand answers before it’s too late.
Our future and our wallets are on the line.
Sandra Bourke
ADVANCE Spokeswoman
References:
GenCost: cost of building Australia’s future electricity needs - CSIRO
Key environmental factors for offshore windfarm environmental impact assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
Energy Minister Chris Bowen launches Hunter Offshore Wind Project consultation in Newcastle | Newcastle Herald | Newcastle, NSW
Australia's first floating wind farm edges closer with feasibility licence awarded to 2GW project | RenewEconomy
Do you like this page?