The developers of Greater Gippsland Offshore Wind Farm release their visual simulation
BlueFloat Energy and Energy Estate, the developers of the Greater Gippsland Offshore Wind Farm are excited to release their visual simulation for the project. The Greater Gippsland Offshore Wind Project is a 1.275 GW project that will use fixed foundation technology and will be located between 10-30 kilometres off the Gippsland Coast of Victoria.
The simulation (available on the project website https://www.greatergippslandowp.com.au/) was produced by PlainConcepts, a worldwide technology pioneer in the use of a 3D graphics development engine that uses physically based renders that creates a unique level of realism. The resulting visual simulation allows the public to see how the 85 turbines will look from 5 points off the Gippsland Coast of Victoria, both during the day and at night.
BlueFloat Energy and Energy Estate share the same ethos and development principles with a focus on early engagement with the traditional owners, communities and stakeholders and delivering enduring benefits. Nick Sankey, Country Manager for BlueFloat Energy in Australia, said “Offshore wind is a new industry for Australia, and we acknowledge how significant the issue of visual impact is for coastal communities and all users of the sea.  In recognition of that importance, we are prioritising the preparation of visual impact simulations for all our projects.”
“The process to create the 3D simulation is complex and involves the use of panoramic photographs (taken by a local photographer) from a number of locations), trigonometry, data points and digital technology. The output is a realistic and scientifically rigorous visual representation of an offshore wind project.” said Mr Sankey. A visual guide providing a detailed explanation of how the simulations are produced is available on BlueFloat Energy’s website (https://www.bluefloat.com/projects/).
In addition to the Greater Gippsland Offshore Wind Project located in the Bass Strait, which is recognized for its world class wind resources, the BlueFloat Energy and Energy Estate partnership is developing 2 other offshore wind projects in Australia. They are the Hunter Coast Offshore Wind Project, off the waters of Newcastle, New South Wales, and The Wollongong Offshore Wind Project, located off the coast of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. Together the 3 projects comprise approximately 4.3GW of planned capacity.
“Following the government’s announcement of the Bass Strait-Gippsland region as the first priority area for the development of offshore wind projects, we are excited to be demonstrably progressing our project in that region with the release of our visual stimulation. We will be doing the same for our other two projects in NSW (the Hunter Coast Offshore Wind Project and the Wollongong Offshore Wind Project) shortly. These simulations authentically and honestly demonstrate the extent to which the coastal landscape and the seascape can absorb the visual change resulting from the installation of wind turbines and associated infrastructure” said Rosie King, Director of Partnerships at Energy Estate.