Port of Hastings takes a step towards establishing renewable energy terminal

PORT of Hastings Corporation has submitted environmental referrals to the Victorian and Australian governments for the Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal at the Old Tyabb Reclamation Area (OTRA).

The referrals are a first step in determining the requirements PoHC will need to meet for state and federal approvals for the project.

According to PoHC, the establishment of the terminal will deliver critical port capacity to meet Victoria’s offshore wind targets of at least two gigawatts of offshore generation capacity by 2032, four gigawatts by 2035 and nine gigawatts by 2040.

“Offshore wind farm assembly requires unique heavy-duty port infrastructure, including large land areas with high pavement strength located adjacent to extra heavy-duty berths,” PoHC said in a statement.

“There is currently no port in Victoria that can facilitate offshore wind assembly.”

PoHC submitted a referral to the Victorian government under the Environment Effects Act 1978 to determine if an Environment Effects Statement is required for the terminal project.

Also, PoHC has submitted a referral to the Australian government that will determine whether the project will require formal assessment and approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The EES Referral will be published on the Victorian government department website and the first opportunity the community and stakeholders will have to comment on the assessment of the project is when Scoping Requirements are released later this year.

The EPBC Act Referral is expected to be published in the coming weeks and will be open for public comment for 14 days.

In December last year, the government declared an area off the coast of Gippsland as an offshore wind power generation zone.

In March this year, the Victorian government named Port of Hastings as the location for the Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal.

Since then, the federal government has declared other offshore wind power zones, including off the Illawarra coast, off the Hunter coast and off of Portland.