A proposed offshore wind farm near Bunbury is facing backlash from members of the local community, who say it threatens coastal views and marine life.

Locals of the coastal town of Binningup, 140km south of Perth, claim they are facing threats to their ocean skyline as international companies have been granted feasibility licenses by the Federal Government to carry out construction of offshore wind farms.

The Bunbury Offshore Wind South farm is set to cover 246sqkm of ocean waters and is around 35km from shore. This distance means the turbines will be visible from shore. The total declared area for all the proposed farms covers 3995sqkm.  

As of August, two preliminary feasibility licenses had been granted. Bunbury Offshore Wind South proposes a farm with around 50 turbines, set to be directly off the coast of Binningup. This is backed by EDF Power Solutions Australia, a part of the French Governments EDF Group.

However, locals, including Binningup resident Sue Della, are opposed to the impacts the wind turbine farms could have on the visual amenities of the coastline and on marine life.

Ms Della said the visibility of the wind turbines being visible from the coast of Binningup was of great concern to locals who value their ocean views, but she added: “If that was the only impact maybe you could live with it.

“The impact it will have on the seafloor …  the different blasts and drills, you’re gonna kill coral, you’re gonna kill fish, you know, you can destroy the whole basin.”

She said she didn’t think the Federal Government had thought about the environmental impacts prior to granting the feasibibilty licences.

The public consultation undertaken prior to the livences being granted took place between Februry and May 2024. It included paid promotion in newspapers, on radio and on social media, as well as a letterbox drop of 88,000 flyers to households and businesses in suburbs and towns adjacent to the proposed area. Around 1000 people attended the drop-in sessions.

The government’s responses to the public consulttion are published here. They include moving the proposed area further away to reduce visual impactand to protect Southern Right Whale habitat and Naturaliste Reef.

Shadow Minister for Energy and Industrial Relations Steve Thomas said the location of the proposed offshore wind farms, was not the most efficient and cost-effective spot. 

“This is an iconic piece of real estate; this is the recreational playground for a huge proportion of WA who come down here and holiday over the summer months,” he said.

He referenced the CSIRO’s GenCost Report, which discusses offshore wind turbines as a first of its kind technology. He said, as of their final report for 2024-2025, offshore wind turbines were predicted to cost $1797 per kilowatt more than onshore wind turbines.

Dr Thomas said it was a major concern to him that this kind of offshore technology hadn’t been explored in the energy space. “It’ll be 10 years down the track before you know what the impact is on the local community,” he said.

A second concerned local said during a community consultation they attended, they were informed each wind turbine would have a red flashing light attached to it.

They added, “No one wants to see them out there. Our ocean shouldn’t be industrialised.”

Despite this, some locals do agree, the installation would provide good job opportunities for short-term installation and long-term management.

Ms Della added that while there would be job opportunities during the construction phase, most of that work was short term, and would disappear once the project was in its maintenance phase.

Mr Thomas added: “You’ve got so many onshore opportunities in WA, it’s just a bad location,” he said.

EDF Group did not respond to a request for comment.