Port Kembla gas terminal dredging provides foundation for wind farm site

The spoil from Squadron Energy's gas import terminal is being moved by tug boats and barges into a containment cell on the southern side of the Outer Harbour, and will ultimately provide the foundation for the proposed wind turbine assembly facility.

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A Squadron Energy spokesperson said so far, 310,000 cubic metres of material have been shifted.

"Materials are being relocated from the Squadron Energy site for beneficial re-use in a purpose-built containment cell in the Outer Harbour," the spokesperson said.

Forty contractors are working on site, and Squadron Energy expects the project to be finished by the end of the year.

Once complete, the 40 hectare wind turbine assembly site will stretch from the Port Kembla Gateway site, next to the Cement Australia import terminal, to the NSW Police Marine Area Command jetty off the southern breakwall.

In February, NSW Ports revealed concept plans for the site, which will be constructed under the already approved container terminal application that received environmental and planning approval a decade ago.

Originally, the plan was designed to accommodate a container terminal at Port Kembla, once Port Botany reaches capacity, however as that date has been pushed back to the 2040s and potentially 2050s, other uses have come into frame.

NSW Ports CEO Marika Calfas said in the meantime the site would support the construction and assembly of offshore wind turbines.

"These works progress part of the reclamation of the site, which will ultimately support our proposed plans for the port's Outer Harbour to support future offshore wind development in the region," she said.

The proposal for an offshore wind zone covering 1461 square kilometres located 10 kilometres from shore is currently open for community feedback.

With the rest of Port Kembla's berth currently at capacity, and the port shortlisted for a future cruise terminal site after plans for one in Port Botany were scrapped, NSW Port Authority head of regional ports Peter Ernst said the site would be ideal for large cruise ships.

"Cruise ships would sit in the outer harbour and become an anchor client for the infrastructure," Mr Ernst said.

Cruise facilities including a terminal could be up and running well before any future wind farm, providing certainty and return on the investment in the interim.

Mr Ernst said the foundations of the Outer Harbour project demonstrated that Port Kembla - the most diversified port in NSW - was not constrained when it came to space in the port, but that it was road and rail connections to the rest of the state that were the major impediment to growth.

Bridges over the M1 limited the size of components that can be transported on road while the rail network was at capacity, and required a new connection to South-Western Sydney to grow.

"What we see is opportunity," Mr Ernst said.

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