Alinta Energy and Parkwind, a subsidiary of JERA Nex – JERA’s newly launched renewable energy company, have teamed up to develop the Spinifex offshore wind farm offshore Australia.
Under the agreement Alinta Energy and Parkwind will jointly develop the over 1GW Spinifex project in the Southern Ocean region declared area.
The parties have already identified a site for the project and will further engage local stakeholders to refine their proposal and progress the project.
The Southern Ocean declared area is the third Australian offshore wind zone. It was declared in March but with a significant reduction in power generation potential.
The proposed zone was supposed to be home to 14GW of offshore wind power, but the government shrunk the zone to just 2.9GW of offshore wind capacity. Applications for feasibility licence applications for offshore wind projects in the zone can be submitted by July 2.
The JERA Nex team, with Parkwind as its central part, has previously developed offshore wind projects and supply chains for new offshore wind regions. JERA Nex owns and operates seven wind farms in Belgium, Germany, the UK, Japan, and Taiwan.
“There is huge potential for offshore wind in Australia and we’re confident that the combination of Alinta Energy’s local expertise and experience and our offshore credentials provide a strong foundation for this project,” said Francois Van Leeuw, VP of development and construction offshore at JERA Nex and co-CEO of Parkwind.
A local supply chain and industry development study completed by the project in 2023 estimated the project could contribute up to AUD 1.6bn ($1.04bn) during the construction period and around AUD 40m annually in operation to the regional economy.
