Brisbane-headquartered Orchid Energy has announced that it is in the early stages of investigating the potential for a multi-gigawatt portfolio of fixed and floating offshore wind projects off Queensland, Australia.
Orchid Energy’s plans are focused on three priority projects suitable for the deployment of large-scale offshore wind projects – two projects off the coast of Gladstone which could have up to 6 GW of capacity and a 4 GW floating wind project located approximately 30 kilometres from shore off southeast Queensland with good proximity to the Port of Brisbane.
Clint Purkiss, Chief Executive Officer of Orchid Energy said that the company has been working for the past 18 months to identify appropriate sites to host quality offshore wind projects and contribute to Queensland’s energy transformation journey.
While Queensland is yet to be nominated as a region suitable for offshore wind development, Orchid Energy said it believes offshore wind is a feasible option for balancing the spread of onshore clean energy projects and offering a “robust means” of contributing to the Queensland Government’s target to deliver 22 GW of new renewable capacity by 2035.
Purkiss added, that these large-scale offshore wind projects will also bring long-term economic and social value for Queensland through industry stimulation, regional growth, and ongoing jobs in the clean energy sector.
“These projects will also add to Queensland’s planned $62 billion in renewable energy investments and stimulate the development of new, profitable and resilient supply chains when you account for the phenomenal volume of materials, components and skills required to deploy such large scale technology at sea,” Orchid Energy’s CEO said.
According to the press release, the company is currently working through detailed technical and environmental analysis of potential project constraints and design options to ensure projects “coexist” with existing marine users and environments, including the Great Barrier Reef.