We’re providing planning and advisory services for the Star of the South (SOTS) project, Australia’s most advanced offshore wind farm.
Next generation power solution
SOTS is an offshore wind project proposed off the coast of Gippsland, Victoria. The project is progressing under a feasibility licence across a 586 kilometre² area, located approximately 10-40 kilometres from the coast.
Up to 147 turbines would be installed in the wind farm area, and at full capacity, it has the potential to generate up to 2.2 GW of electricity, enough to power around 1.2 million homes across Victoria. The project is also expected to create up to 6,000 Australian jobs over its lifetime and deliver billions in local investment.
The construction, operation and decommissioning of the wind farm is subject to comprehensive environmental and planning assessment, approval and licensing processes. In 2019, we were engaged as planning and environmental approvals advisor to support the project’s development. Working closely with regulatory agencies, we led the development of the approvals strategy, including the adoption of a project design envelope approach through impact assessment.
We prepared the project referrals submitted to the Commonwealth and Victorian governments and contributed to development of the Environment Effects Statement (EES) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) documentation.
Our work included collecting environmental data to inform environmental impact assessments, incorporating feedback from the stakeholders into project planning, and supporting the development of the underground cable connection to the proposed VicGrid hub.
Our studies informed key design decisions aimed at reducing environmental impact. These included avoidance of areas of relatively high ecological and heritage sensitivity and the development of mitigation measures to address potential amenity impacts associated with project construction and operation.
A clear pathway forward
Our work has helped to establish a clear pathway for the project to obtain the required planning and environmental approvals. This has enabled SOTS to actively manage approvals risks and progress the project with greater confidence.
Now that planning and environmental assessments are concluded, the approvals documentation is going through public review. Subject to approvals, construction could begin later this decade, with electricity generation from 2032.