BlueFloat Energy, Energy Estate and Elemental Group are excited to announce that they are partnering to develop offshore wind farms in New Zealand. The partnership brings together complementary skills and experience to accelerate the offshore wind sector in New Zealand. BlueFloat Energy based in Madrid, Spain, is an independent developer of utility-scale offshore wind energy projects in multiple geographies.
Today we launched “Haumoana – New Zealand Offshore Wind Capacity Building”, a report which highlights New Zealand’s untapped potential for offshore wind development and the opportunities to establish local supply chain as well as create enduring employment in the sector. (Haumoana is a coastal town in Hawke Bay on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island).
The parentship brings together BlueFloat Energy, a leading offshore wind developer with a global pipeline of projects, with Energy Estate, a developer of renewable energy and green hydrogen projects in Australia and New Zealand, and Elemental Group, one of the pioneers in the offshore wind sector in New Zealand. BlueFloat Energy and Energy Estate have also partnered to develop offshore wind projects in Australia.
Carlos Martin, CEO of BlueFloat Energy said: “Offshore wind is emerging as one of the key solutions to climate change crisis as it can decarbonise global economies quickly and at scale. Additionally, it can prove pivotal in revitalising coastal communities and placing energy generation close to consumption centres.”
New Zealand has world class offshore wind resources and is well placed to benefit from the falling cost of offshore wind. This new competitive source of electricity complements perfectly the existing hydro, geothermal and onshore wind assets. Offshore wind can accelerate New Zealand’s progress towards achieving its net zero target and contribute towards the decarbonisation of other sectors, such as transport and agriculture.
Simon Currie, co-founder of Energy Estate commented “I witnessed first-hand the rapid development of the offshore wind industry in Europe. Our goal is to bring the lessons learned from around the world to a New Zealand setting and develop an industry which creates enduring benefits for the iwi and all stakeholders. A good example of our approach is exploring the opportunities to foster a green hydrogen and e-fuels industry that harnesses the fantastic winds across New Zealand to decarbonise domestic demand and export green fuels to the world.”
Simon Corbell, CEO of the Clean Energy Investor Group and Chief Advisor to Energy Estate shares that “Offshore wind development will be a key new clean energy resource development sector for New Zealand and Australia. Skilled trades are already transferrable between the jurisdictions and opportunities exist for creating first-of-a-kind training for offshore wind operations. Existing capabilities and experience in the marine and offshore oil and gas sectors should also be explored, and new partnerships created that enable existing workforces to pivot into a new offshore wind sector as it develops. The stretch goal is to create a Trans-Tasman centre of excellence which can serve the domestic industries and support the wider Asia-Pacific markets as the offshore wind industries expands across the wider region.“
(Source: Bluefloat Energy – The Hau Moana coast in New Zealand)