Closed

Kent Offshore Wind Farm

Tender ID: 585706

Tender Details

Organisation:

Kent Offshore Wind Pty. Ltd.

Tender #:

Status:

Closed

Publish Date:

16 May 2025

Closing Date:

17 April 2026

Tender Description

⁠⁠⁠Overview

RWE acknowledges Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to their Elders, past and present.

RWE is a world leader in offshore wind

Headquartered in Essen, Germany, RWE is a leading offshore wind developer and operator in the energy sector with more than 125-year history leading the industry. With a current portfolio of 19 offshore wind farms and a pro-rata installed capacity of about 3.3 GW globally, we intend to more than double our global offshore wind capacity to 10 GW by 2030.

As a developer with the "build-to-operate" mentality, to date, we maintain over 1,000+ offshore turbines in operation and we calculate that these are saving the planet more than 10 million tonnes of CO2 annually. Currently, we are constructing the 1.4GW Sofia Wind Farm in the UK and 1GW Thor Wind Farm in the North Sea. These new offshore wind capacities will contribute significantly to our mission to decarbonize the planet. Read more about our international offshore wind projects here.

https://www.rwe.com/en/our-energy/discover-renewables/offshore-wind/

RWE in Australia

The RWE Group entered the Australian market in 2018 with the construction of one of the country's largest solar farms - the 249 MW Limondale Solar Farm in New South Wales, which has been operational since 2021. In 2023, we achieved an additional success for Limondale with the award of a Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) to deliver and operate Australia's first eight-hour battery within the existing project site.

Our commitment to Australia is not in doubt as we plan to invest around 6 billion Australian dollars by 2030, to develop up to 3 GW of onshore wind, solar and battery projects across the country. Furthermore, RWE is also committed to supporting the further development of offshore wind in Australia, which is solidified by our recent success in securing the feasibility licence of RWE's Kent Offshore Wind Project off the Gippsland coast in Victoria State. Our ambition is to support the Australian Government to achieve their net zero target and to assist State Governments to electrify and decarbonise. We have a strong focus on working with and making positive contributions to the communities where our projects are based, as well as being a key driver of Australia's energy transition.

To know more about RWE Group and RWE Australia, please click here.

https://au.rwe.com/rwe-renewables-australia/

https://www.rwe.com/en/

Kent Offshore Wind Farm

www.kentoffshore.com.au

RWE is seeking to develop an offshore wind farm close to the Kent Islands in the Bass Strait, off Victoria's Gippsland coast.

In July 2024 the project was awarded a feasibility licence from the Australian Government under Offshore Electricity Infrastructure ACT 2021. The feasibility licence grants RWE the exclusive right in the Kent offshore wind site to obtain approvals under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999, and undertake environmental assessments, and geological and metocean surveys. Metocean surveys involve the collection and analysis of meteorological (weather) and oceanographic (sea) data. Before a commercial license for construction and electricity generation can be considered, the feasibility of the project must be thoroughly assessed.

Engagement with the first nations groups and key stakeholders will also be a continuous focus to shape the project and create mutual benefits, with feedback playing a crucial role in the project's development. Another key milestone at a later stage will be to secure an offtake agreement, to sell the energy produced by the wind farm.

The project's license area is about 412 square kilometres and within Australia's first designated offshore wind zone, located about 67 kilometres off the coast.

The license area has the potential to host a wind farm that can deliver up to two gigawatts (GW) of capacity. This is enough to power up to 1.6 million Australian homes with green electricity.

Key benefits of the Bass Strait location include:

Consistent and strong winds that blow at times of the day when demand for electricity is at its highest.
Water depths of about 50-60 metres.
Access to the strongest transmission connection point in the National Electricity Market (NEM).

Offshore substations, subsea cables, onshore substations and the onshore cable route are currently planned to connect to the proposed VicGrid shared connection point which would connect the wind farm to the Latrobe Valley or other areas in Gippsland.

The Kent offshore wind farm is expected to become operational in the first half of the 2030s, subject to the timing of the planning and approvals process, secured offtake as well as grid connection.

Potential Opportunities

The deployment of commercial scale offshore wind is an integral part of that green energy future, just as it has the potential to positively impact the Victorian and Australian economies with thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

RWE want to put our effort for building up the local content for Australia, hear from local businesses and extend the local supply chain, we are also working to partner with universities for training and apprenticeships.

Further opportunities for local companies and future high skilled labour positions will be created through various downstream activities, potentially including the following:

Social and Environmental Sustainability advisor
Different packages (Wind turbine, Foundation, Offshore Substations, Onshore Substation, Cable, O&M etc.)
Stakeholder Management, EIA, Consent & Permit
Wind and Metocean surveyor
Port, On-site Management
Marine Vessels expertise.

Work Packages	Closing
Balance of Plant Service	17 Mar 2026
General Services and Any Opportunities	17 Mar 2026
Metocean, Wind Assessment and Site Surveys	17 Mar 2026
Offshore Transmission (offshore substations, Inter-Array and Export Cables)	17 Mar 2026
Onshore Infrastructure	17 Mar 2026
Turbine Services and Maintenance	17 Mar 2026
Vessels, Ports and Logistics	17 Mar 2026
Wind Turbine Foundations	17 Mar 2026
Wind Turbine Generator	17 Mar 2026
Project Design and Studies	17 Apr 2026