Hunter Workers has labelled the offshore wind farm a 'beacon of opportunity' for the Hunter's future viability ("Offshore wind offers blueprint for Hunter jobs, leadership", Opinion, 6/1). Indeed, the project is massive. Potentially hundreds of up to 260-metre tall turbines plus ancillary infrastructure and cables will be floating 20km+ out at sea, tethered to the seafloor using massive anchors across 1800 square kilometres.
They need to be built, maintained and replaced after a while, all of which means jobs. But there is increasing community resistance regarding the project's viability and size. Among the concerns are its potential impacts on marine life, shipping, fishing, tourism and associated jobs. Visually, the turbines will appear twice as high as the Tomaree Headland when viewed from Nobbys Lighthouse. And still they won't yield nearly enough baseload power to compensate for Liddell's closure.
