As the lead consultant to the project, which has been in development since 2012, WSP has provided integrated project management, environment, planning and engineering services for the proposed wind farm.
The exploration licence will enable a range of studies to determine feasibility of the project including wind monitoring and investigations into the seabed and marine environment. Before the studies begin, detailed community and stakeholder consultation will take place.
In a recent media statement, Andy Evans, CEO of Star of the South says, “We’re excited to start the next phase of our work. We’ve done a lot of background studies and look forward to getting out there and further understanding the marine environment. While it’s still early days for the project, these crucial investigations will help us move forward and understand how we might progress an offshore wind project in Australia.”
WSP has worked alongside the Star of the South as a trusted partner to help achieve key project outcomes and pave the way for the government’s licence approval.
Jenny MacMahon, Director of Environment for WSP in Australia says, “We adopted a risk-based approach with the Star of the South founded on the ISO 14001 standards for environmental management systems and Equator Principles of environmental and social risk management for sustainable development. We created a best-for-project global delivery team tailored to Star of the South’s needs which saw us leverage experts from Europe (Denmark), USA (Boston) and the United Kingdom (London). Overall, this helped unlock knowledge, access best practices and support decision-making.”
The Star of the South is formed by local Australian developers along with leading offshore wind developer and investor, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).
In support of the project’s progress (as featured in the Star of the South media statement), Michael Hannibal, spokesman for CIP says, “We welcome the Commonwealth Government’s decision and we look forward to continue investigating the opportunities for offshore wind in Australia, in addition to our projects developing in Europe, Asia and North America.”
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