Social Dimensions of Offshore Wind in Australia

Offshore wind energy is poised to help Australia transition to a low-carbon energy future.

Offshore wind energy can potentially provide large amounts of reliable renewable power, due to the larger sizes of each turbine, many turbines in each farm, and stronger winds blowing over the ocean. 

 However, a critical component, along with ocean users such as fishing, will be the Australian public's attitude toward, understanding of, and the overall social license to operate offshore wind farms.

What did we do in this project?

In this project, we take an Australian national snapshot of the current social licence for offshore wind energy. We use established social survey methods to understand values and preferences.

We conducted focus groups and scoping interviews to understand the concerns and perspectives that the Australian public has for offshore wind, to inform the design of an online survey. The national benchmark survey (3,015 respondents) maps out the current understanding and perceptions of the public on offshore wind, measures the current social license to operate, and explores the links between peoples’ environmental and ocean values, their beliefs, and their support for offshore wind.

This project has been supported by the UWA Oceans Institute Better Oceans Programme.