This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Research Plan 2024 project "Development of regional modelling and risk assessments to inform offshore renewable decision-making". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata.

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Australia is entering a phase of rapid offshore renewable energy (ORE) development, with several regions earmarked for wind farms on the eastern and south-eastern coasts. In considering the environmental acceptability of wind energy projects, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) will assess potential risks to the recovery of populations listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act 1999).

The assessment process will consider cumulative environmental impacts at a regional or even ocean basin-scale, in addition to environmental factors specific to ORE. Additionally, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environment Authority (NOPSEMA) has identified the need for improved understanding on species, processes and industry activities to support impact and risk assessment.

This project will demonstrate the use of two kinds of modelling (whole-of-ecosystem modelling and individual species modelling) to estimate the impacts and risks of installing ORE infrastructure in the Gippsland declared region. The project will use the Impact pathways defined by DCCEEW to structure its approach and methods, and will work with DCCEEW and NOPSEMA to identify priority species and associated data needs. The project will use the recently declared Gippsland region as a case study, together with the 12 ORE impact pathways identified by DCEEW, to contextualise the quantitative modelling and cumulative risk calculations that will be performed.

Outputs

• Species-specific population models for key threatened and migratory species for the Gippsland ORE region [spatial outputs]

• Outputs from Whole of Ecosystem (WoE) modelling [risk-based impact spatial outputs]

• Final project report [written]