New head appointed for Australia's 1st offshore wind farm project

A former executive of Ørsted A/S, previously known as Dong Energy, will be at the helm of the entity behind Australia’s first offshore wind project, called the Star of the South.

The Star of the South announced on Thursday that Casper Frost Thorhauge will be its new CEO. The new project head has the experience needed to “take the project into the next phase,” the project vehicle said, pointing out at his work in offshore wind project development in Europe and Asia. Thorhauge has also held senior management and board positions at Dong Energy, where he has led the development of over ASD 10 billion worth of offshore wind schemes.

The entity behind the scheme is owned by Melbourne-based developer Offshore Energy Pty Ltd, which was in 2017 joined in the ambitious initiative by Danish fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners K/S (CIP).

The Star of the South will be located off the south coast of Gippsland in Victoria, comprising 250 turbines installed in waters 8 km to 13 km (5 miles-8 miles) off Port Albert. An exploration licence for the project is in place and if constructed, the huge wind farm would provide clean power for up to 1.2 million homes. Two floating LiDARs and a wave buoy have recently been installed at the designated site and will measure conditions at sea for several years.

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