Published: 30 Apr 2024
Right now, the Commonwealth government is holding a consultation on declaring an ‘Offshore Renewable Energy Area’ in the ocean 20-100km off the coast of SW WA.
We are asking everyone in the community to participate in the consultation and show their support for the Declaration of this Offshore Renewable Energy Area, before 3 May 2024.
· This is an incredible opportunity for West Australian workers and our entire community to build the renewable energy infrastructure we need to create thousands of good union jobs and address the climate crisis.
· Offshore wind can provide bulk electricity to keep WA’s manufacturing going and allow the alumina refinery to keep operating long into the future. It means billions in investment into the whole region.
· The Port of Bunbury could be a major hub for onshore and offshore renewable energy infrastructure for the whole state.
· The Bunbury area was chosen because it has a skilled workforce, great electricity grid connections and port infrastructure, and a location close to large electricity loads.
· Strong and consistent offshore winds blow at times that solar power isn’t available. Ten gigawatts (10,000 megawatts) of fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines could be built off Bunbury. WA currently operates 1.7 GW (1,700 MW) of coal fired power stations. Electricity demand will grow as more systems are electrified to reduce emissions.
· Wind turbines can create habitat for fish and other marine life. Building renewable energy will help address climate change, which is currently the greatest threat to ocean life.
Many of the key fishing species in SW WA are highly sensitive to climate change. The average ocean temperature around Bunbury has already increased by 1 degree since 1950, and marine heatwaves are become much more common. WA’s oceans are already 30% more acidic than they were in the 1800s and this could double.
Make a submission - before midnight Friday 3 May 2024.
Go to: consult.dcceew.gov.au/oei-bunbury.
Below are the questions the government is asking about the proposed Offshore Wind Area: Indian Ocean off Bunbury, Western Australia, with suggested answers. If you have time, please add your own commentary or use your own words.
Environment: Can you see any benefits related to the environment?
Click ‘yes’. Building offshore wind projects will help reduce carbon emissions that cause climate change, which is the greatest environmental threat we face.
Concerns? No.
Visual amenity: Any concerns related to visual amenity? Click ‘No’.
Community: Can you see any benefits or opportunities related to the community and onshore transmission?
Click ‘yes’. This is a great opportunity. To ensure the benefits are shared among workers and communities the Minister must require that renewable energy projects in the Area:
The government must build a publicly owned common user port terminal for construction and maintenance, and publicly owned transmission infrastructure from the grid to shared offshore connection points.
Concerns? No.
Fishing: Can you see any benefits or opportunities related to fishing?
Click ‘yes’. Wind turbines may provide habitat for fish and other sea life, and could improve recreational fishing. Climate change and the heating of the oceans are a much greater threat to fish stocks than wind turbines. Recreational fishers must be allowed to fish within the boundaries of offshore wind farms (as is the case in the USA and UK) and as close as possible to wind turbines.
Concerns? No.
Digital rendering of offshore wind turbines to illustrate how they would look when built 20km from shore. From Marlston Hill lookout, Bunbury. See https://consult.dcceew.gov.au/oei-bunbury
Digital rendering of offshore wind turbines to illustrate how they would look when built 20km from shore. From Marlston Hill lookout, Bunbury. See https://consult.dcceew.gov.au/oei-bunbury
The yellow area is the proposed area where offshore wind turbines could be sited, pending further applications. Blue areas are marine parks. Yellow and red are electricity transmission lines.
An interactive map with much more information is available here.
Misinformation and "fake news" on offshore wind is rife on social media.
Disingenuous politicians are actively spreading misinformation in an attempt to push their own policy agendas and to win votes by stoking fear and anger.
Internationally, anti-wind campaigns and the production of misleading content are being funded by coal, oil and gas companies.
In Australia, falsified articles purporting to be published in academic journals have circulated on social media spreading false claims about the impact of offshore wind.
WILL THE COMMUNITY BE LOCKED OUT OF THE AREA FOR OFFSHORE WIND?
No. Any exclusion zones will strictly be around offshore wind infrastructure, and will be the minimum necessary to protect that infrastructure, for example, 50m from an operating turbine, perhaps 500m during construction. Turbines are likely to be 1-3km apart. The government’s current consultation paper says ‘It is intended that marine vessels will be able to travel within any wind farm area’.
ARE OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES A RELIABLE SOURCE OF ELECTRICITY?
Yes. The wind off the WA coast is strong and consistent, especially in the evening when solar power isn’t available. Wind turbines were first built offshore in 1991 in the harsh North Sea off Denmark and the technology has been continuously improved. 47% of Denmark’s electricity now comes from wind power. Thousands of offshore wind turbines are successfully operating across 20 countries. In Australia, the CSIRO has found that offshore wind is cheaper than gas peaking power, and is about half the price of nuclear power and hydrogen power.
WILL THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT BE NEGATIVELY AFFECTED?
No. Climate change and the heating of oceans is the greatest threat to ocean life such as whales and fish. Many of the key fishing species in SW WA are highly sensitive to climate change. The average ocean temperature around Bunbury has already increased by 1 degree since 1950, and marine heatwaves are become much more common. WA’s oceans are already 30% more acidic than they were in the 1800s and this could double.
This consultation is about the extent of the possible zone for offshore wind. Any specific project will have to make another licence application and go through extensive environmental study and approval processes.
WILL RECREATIONAL FISHING BE NEGATIVELY AFFECTED?
Globally, recreational fishing is allowed all through wind farms once construction is complete. There may be exclusion zones keeping fishers away from infrastructure during construction but these are temporary measures.
In the USA, surveys of recreational fishers at the country’s first offshore wind farm found it had a neutral to positive effect on recreational fishing. Many of those surveyed believed the turbines improved fishing, because the bases of the turbines attracted fish like artificial reefs.
ARE WIND TURBINES A THREAT TO BIRDS?
A recent study of bird behaviour near offshore wind turbines in Aberdeen Bay found no collisions in two years of monitoring. Climate change poses a much greater threat to birds than wind turbines. Wind power is vital to the effort to stop climate change.
WILL WHALES BE AFFECTED?
There is no evidence that whale migration patterns are affected by offshore wind turbines. Studies into whale deaths in the US found that wind turbines were not responsible. Whales were dying because of collisions with ships, swallowing plastic, or getting caught in fishing gear.
The location of individual offshore wind farms will be the subject of environmental studies and approvals processes, which will take into account any whale migration and calving patterns.
Greenpeace has come out in support of offshore wind, saying that ‘wind farms aren’t killing whales’. Whale and Dolphin Conservation Australia says that ‘Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing whales and dolphins today.’
CAN THE TURBINES BE SEEN FROM THE SHORE?
Turbines in the proposed area will be barely visible from shore - 20km from Bunbury, 36km from Busselton, and 40km from Mandurah.
IS NUCLEAR POWER A BETTER SOLUTION?
No. Instead of offshore wind, the Liberals and Nationals are campaigning for nuclear power plants. These have never been built in Australia, create dangerous waste that lasts forever, can create devastating accidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima, and use huge amounts of water.
The CSIRO has found that nuclear generated electricity will cost about double offshore wind in Australia. The Electrical Trades Union has had a ban on members working in uranium mining and the broader nuclear industry since 1945 (see their website www.nofuture4nuclear.org)
IS ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION AN ISSUE?
No. There is more exposure to electromagnetic radiation from a mobile phone or microwave oven.
In addition to the metallic covering around the cable, undersea power cables are typically buried under the seafloor for their protection. As electromagnetic fields from undersea power cables decrease rapidly with distance from the cable, burying the cables substantially reduces the levels of magnetic and induced electric fields in seawater.
DOES THE ZONE OVERLAP OUR MARINE PARKS AND PROTECTED AREAS?
No. There is a buffer zone between the proposed offshore wind area and the Geographe Marine Park, the South West Corner Marine Park, Ngari Capes Marine Park and the Perth Canyon Marine Park. They do not overlap. You can see details in the interactive map available here.
WILL WIND TURBINES AFFECT THE SWELL?
No. Turbines in WA will be 20km or more offshore and are large distances apart. Offshore wind farms exist off the coast of many surf beaches and cause no harm to surf conditions.
