Offshore wind farm: Business owner fumes over controversial $10billion project on NSW south coast
17th June, 2024
By Freddy Pawle, Daily Mail Australia
- Fisherman slams new offshore wind farm
- Last minute change destroyed his $500,000 investment
A commercial fisherman fears his livelihood is under threat after last-minute amendments to a new offshore wind farm were given the green light.
The final amendments to the 100-hectare plot of sea where the $10billion project will be built were completed by the federal government on Saturday.
About 1.8million homes are expected to be powered by the floating wind turbines situated 20km offshore of NSW’s Illawarra Coast, south of Sydney.
The project was initially planned to be just 10km off the coast, where local fisherman Mark Horne caught lobsters for a living, but was changed at the last minute.
Fearing that his fishing spot would disappear, Mr Horne invested $500,000 in a new boat to expand into new fishing areas, which is now obsolete following the amendments.
A last minute change to the borders of proposed offshore wind-farm has left fisherman Mark Horne (right) furious after a $500,000 investment was made obsolete
The fisherman told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Monday that the government’s decision to go ahead with the project was ‘devastating’, adding that he ‘can’t get a win’.
‘At the drop of a hat on Saturday morning that half a million dollar investment is now got to be … put it on the back burner,’ Mr Horne fumed.
He took aim at federal energy minister Chris Bowen for pushing through the proposed wind farm despite the concerns of locals and commercial fisherman.
‘(Mr Bowen) didn’t want a bar of it … his decision was already made,’ Mr Horne said.
‘Any of the politicians or people that are interested can come to Kiama, I’ll personally take them out and show them pristine waters.’
He added the impact on commercial anglers weren’t taken into consideration despite doing trying their best to make the industry sustainable.
The fisherman also raised concerns over the potential ecological impact of the wind farm, which could be battered by huge swells.
‘It’s just an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen … if one of them catches on fire or collapses or breaks away,’ he said.
‘There’s got to be a better way than sticking (wind turbines) out in one of the most pristine oceans of the world.’
Mr Horne said he bought a new boat believing his lobster fishing spot was going to be in the borders of the offshore wind farm (stock image), only for the government to push it further from the coast
The $10billion project will be built 20km off the Illawarra Coast (highlighted) and is predicted to power about 1.8million homes upon completion
Federal Labor MP for Gilmore Fiona Phillips hailed the wind farm as ‘great news for local jobs and businesses’ in her electorate.
‘This is about getting more renewable energy into the grid, which will provide energy security and put downward pressure on power prices for everyone in Gilmore,’ she said in a statement on Monday.
‘That’s good news for households, businesses and local jobs.’
The local member and Mr Bowen estimated the project will create an estimated 1,740 new jobs during construction and add 870 ongoing jobs upon completion.
Ms Phillips comments sparked outrage from locals.
‘Classic case of destroying the environment to save the environment. Surely there are better options than this unaffordable madness,’ one wrote.
Another added: ‘I heard the other week that it costs 2.5 times more per wind turbine to build on water than on land! And we are all paying for this.’
Another challenged the government to plan for a wind-farm ‘off Bondi Beach and see how green and environmentally friendly it is then’.
‘I am so bloody sick of the Illawarra being used as crash test dummies for the rest of Sydney,’ they wrote.
The project has infuriated locals who challenged the government to put a wind-farm off of more popular coastlines such as Sydney’s Eastern Beaches instead (stock image)
Mr Bowen said the government had taken into account ‘community concerns’ in determining the final zone and reduced the size of the area by a third from the original proposal.
The declared zone, which is the fourth in Australia, ‘excludes significant environmental areas’, including the Southern Right Whale migration and reproduction area, and an area designed to protect the little penguin population.
‘This is important for renewable energy, important for jobs. But this is also a balanced declaration,’ Mr Bowen said.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Climate Change, Energy the Environment and Water for comment.
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