After the first licences to pursue offshore wind projects in the Bass Strait off Gippsland were granted, all eyes are now on the waters of the Hunter and the Illawarra as the next stage of the offshore wind pipeline.
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On Wednesday, energy and climate change minister Chris Bowen announced the six developers that have been granted feasibility licences.
Another six have been provisionally selected, but are subject to First Nations consultation.
Hopeful Illawarra proponent BlueFloat which had put forward its Greater Gippsland proposal was not selected. BlueFloat is involved in the Gippsland Dawn project, which is subject to Native Title consultation.
The licences will enable successful developers to begin scoping sections of the ocean to produce detailed plans, including environmental studies and management plans.
"I've awarded feasibility licences to projects that would bring the most rewards for Gippsland, its workforce and for our energy security," Mr Bowen said.
The decision means that now attention will turn to the next most advanced regions, the Hunter and the Illawarra.
Emily Scivetti, chief operating officer of Oceanex, which is partnered with Norwegian energy giant Equinor to develop its Illawarra Offshore Wind proposal, said the focus would now turn to the Illawarra.
"We are very encouraged by this announcement because it means that the attention now turns to NSW," she said.
While industry had hoped for Mr Bowen to make the call earlier in the year, Ms Scivetti said that approvals were expected to accelerate, now that Gippsland had been announced.
"While decisions in government are taking longer than expected, what we are observing is that the government is finding their feet and the regulatory processes are becoming more efficient."
The role of Port Kembla
Prior to the announcement, Port Kembla had been touted for its role in the Gippsland region, following uncertainty about the Port of Hastings, with environment minister Tanya Plibersek ruling out the expansion of the port, due to impacts on a sensitive wetland.
NSW Ports CEO Marika Calfas said Port Kembla was the site that was in the best position to support offshore wind projects, including those interstate.
"Port Kembla, in our view, is the most progressed in terms of its plans and ability to deliver the infrastructure needed to support those projects, not just on the NSW coast, but in Victoria and Gippsland."
NSW Ports has brought forward plans to build a container terminal in Port Kembla's outer harbour to support offshore wind zones, as the container terminal is not expected to be needed until the 2050s.
Ms Scivetti said this approved development proposal meant Port Kembla was attractive to offshore wind developers.
"Port Kembla has an existing development application which puts it in front of viable ports around the country," she said.
"It is likely that Port Kembla will be able to service the offshore wind industry and we would expect a multi-port solution for the east coast of Australia.
"While a Victorian port will be necessary for the construction of Gippsland projects ... we would hope to see Port Kembla play a key role in servicing not only NSW projects, but also form an important part of meeting the developers needs in Gippsland."
Given the expected role of Port Kembla in future offshore wind projects not only in the Illawarra, Ms Calfas said this would enable suppliers in the Illawarra to support offshore wind projects around the country.
"If we can get that up and running in Port Kembla and we take the lead, you get that opportunity to build that skills set, the knowledge base, jobs in the region, and then you become the expert hub for that and you can deploy both to the East Coast projects, but also provide that expertise to other parts of the nation as well."
Update: A previous version of this article stated that BlueFloat was developing the Greater Gippsland Offshore Wind project with Origin Energy. This is not correct.
