BlueFloat Energy, Energy Estate and Elemental Group have formed a partnership to develop offshore wind farms in New Zealand. The partnership is intended to bring together the three companies’ complementary skills and experience to accelerate the offshore wind sector in the country.
In support of its aims the partnership has launched ‘Haumoana – New Zealand Offshore Wind capacity Building’, a report that 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.
BlueFloat Energy, is a prominent offshore wind developer with a global pipeline of projects; Energy Estate is a developer of renewable energy and green hydrogen projects in Australia and New Zealand; and Elemental Group is one of the pioneers in the offshore wind sector in New Zealand.
New Zealand has extensive offshore wind resources, and is well placed to benefit from the falling cost of offshore wind, which complements the existing hydro, geothermal and onshore wind assets. The underlying belief is that 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 … 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.”
The Haumoana report centres on the ways in which New Zealand can build its domestic capabilities across the offshore wind value chain – from supply chain to ongoing employment to decommissioning. It draws on precedents from global case studies and seeks to highlight the ecosystem that can be built around the offshore wind industry.
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