Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has offered final feasibility licences to three offshore wind projects in the Bunbury zone off the coast of Western Australia, the federal government said on 23 January.
Also on 23 January, the government invited applications for research and demonstration (R&D) licences that allow trials and testing of offshore renewable technology in Australian waters. R&D permits will be awarded to projects in any of the country’s six offshore wind zones.
The three projects now awarded final feasibility licences are Bunbury Offshore Wind South and Bunbury Offshore Wind North, developed by the Australian firm Oceanex Energy and backed by EDF Power Solutions, and Westward Wind, owned by Ocean Winds. Combined, the projects could deliver around 4 GW of installed offshore wind capacity.
Acceptance of these offers will allow proponents to commence detailed investigations and consultation under the feasibility licence framework, DCCEEW says.
The Bunbury offshore wind zone, which covers an area of 3,995 square kilometres and has the potential to generate up to 11.4 GW of renewable energy, was declared an offshore wind zone in September 2024.
In August last year, the three projects that now secured final feasibility licences were awarded preliminary licences.
A couple of months before that, Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen approved a feasibility licence for the Bunbury offshore wind farm in the zone’s north and a preliminary licence for a related project planned in the southern section. However, the southern Bunbury project had overlapped with the proposed Westward Wind project, which was also offered a preliminary licence, requiring the two companies to negotiate a resolution.
On 27 August 2025, Bowen announced that Westward Wind and Bunbury Offshore Wind South had resolved the overlap between their projects.