BlueFloat Energy, Energy Estate and Elemental Group are partnering to develop offshore wind projects in New Zealand.
The partnership aims to bring together complementary skills and experience to accelerate the offshore wind sector in New Zealand.
The partners have produced a report, “Haumoana – New Zealand Offshore Wind Capacity Building”, which highlights New Zealand’s untapped potential for offshore wind development and the opportunities to establish local supply chain and employment opportunities.
BlueFloat Energy is an 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.
Elemental Group is “a pioneer in the offshore wind sector in New Zealand”.
The partnership has appointed a country manager, Jarek Pole, to help accelerate its activities in New Zealand.
BlueFloat Energy and Energy Estate have also partnered to develop offshore wind projects in Australia.
Carlos Martin, CEO of BlueFloat Energy said: “Offshore wind is emerging as one of the key solutions to climate change crisis as it can decarbonise global economies quickly and at scale.”
New Zealand has world class offshore wind resources and is well placed to benefit from the falling cost of offshore wind.
Simon Currie, co-founder of Energy Estate, added: “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 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.