Australia’s planned floating wind farm uses vertical turbines with sea-level generators designed for servicing by small local vessels
There is a total of 1,854 square kilometers of sea area near Newcastle, New South Wales, which has been identified by Australia as its Hunter offshore wind area, potentially having the capacity to accommodate 5 gigawatts worth of clean energy production. The fact of the matter is that there is nothing in the form of turbines, licensees, and infrastructure at the site that is equipped for accommodating conventional offshore wind.
Two companies from Sweden and Australia, respectively, have come up with an innovative concept of building a floating wind farm using local boats as opposed to the non-existent infrastructure at the offshore site. The problem is which type of wind turbine will make this concept possible.
A wind zone with no turbines, and a completely different strategy
The Hunter offshore wind zone was established by the Australian government in July 2023. The zone covers 1,854 km² of ocean space near New South Wales, offering the possibility of capacity up to 5 GW, numbers which make for a pretty good start of a project on clean energy development. Yet designation is not equal to development. In early 2026, licenses for research and demonstration became possible in Australia’s six offshore wind zones, but so far, none has been granted to Hunter.
Australia is new to its offshore wind energy industry, and there is no infrastructure of shipyards necessary for the installation of traditional turbines.
It is easy to see why development is progressing slowly due to structural issues. Australia is new to its offshore wind energy industry, and there is no infrastructure of shipyards necessary for the installation of traditional turbines. Traditional offshore turbines cannot be installed without specialized ships which are not available in Australia at this point.
And that is precisely why HFLOW and SeaTwirl exist.
The MoU: a Swedish turbine maker meets an Australian pioneer
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Swedish company SeaTwirl and Australian company Hunter Floating Offshore Wind Pty Ltd (HFLOW) on 22 September 2026 for a 20 MW floating offshore wind demonstration project in Newcastle. Responsibilities are well distributed in accordance with the MoU – HFLOW is responsible for permitting, stakeholder engagement, finance, port and grid connections, and SeaTwirl provides its technology, a reference design and engineering services.
The MoU contains a two-year period of mutual exclusivity. This means that during these two years HFLOW will employ exclusively SeaTwirl’s technology to realize the project and SeaTwirl won’t have any other development partner from Australia for this project. Each side pays its costs during the preparatory stage and there are no deliverables or investments commitments until other binding agreements are signed.
Nevertheless, the work on the engagement with the community has been started long ago. HFLOW, an Australian company founded in 2021 and based in Newcastle, has letters of support from a local council, an independent climate think tank and a regional development agency along with agreements with a university and an engineering consultancy firm.
Turning the turbine on its head: Why vertical axis changes everything
The turbine at the center of this project looks nothing like the three-bladed machines most people picture when they think of wind power. Vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) rotate around a vertical axis and are omni-directional — they capture wind from any direction without needing to yaw, eliminating an entire mechanical system and its associated maintenance demands.
The structural design of a VAWT is also compatible with floating platforms in a way that a horizontal-axis turbine cannot be. Heavy parts are placed low within the structure, near the water level, which means better stability at sea and also makes possible the use of less heavy floating platforms underneath.
This ease of access is what defines the essence of the Hunter project. Since all of the machinery is placed on a relatively shallow depth, servicing becomes possible from local small boats, and not the heavy-lift ships needed for traditional offshore wind farms. The low speed of rotation and modularity make fewer high-stress parts vulnerable to the conditions at sea.
Link with VERTI-GO: European research and Australian ambition
The intended turbine for the Hunter demonstration is the 2 MW floating VAWT that SeaTwirl is developing through VERTI-GO, an EU Horizon Europe-funded project with €15 million in funding. VERTI-GO integrates the tower and floater into a single structure — a design choice that streamlines manufacturing and assembly, targeting lower capital costs and improved reliability.
Following the success at TRL5 level, the VERTI-GO program is targeting the creation of a full-scale 2 MW demonstrator through collaboration with industry partners along the entire value chain. Design activities will continue until the end of 2026, whereas construction and operations will proceed up until the end of 2029. As a result, the Hunter initiative could immediately follow European validation based on actual operating experience.
Implications of floating wind beyond Australia
The Hunter demonstration is explicitly a stepping stone. One of the project’s stated objectives is to establish a credible pathway from the demonstrator to larger commercial deployments — the 20 MW scale is a proof of concept, not an endpoint.
SeaTwirl‘s CEO Johan Sandberg describes Australia as “a whole new continent of opportunities,” signaling ambitions that extend well beyond the Hunter zone. HFLOW’s director Richard Finlay-Jones points to the potential for local manufacturing opportunities that don’t require significant investment in port infrastructure or specialized vessels — a model with clear appeal in other emerging offshore wind markets facing similar constraints.
Whether the research and demonstration license application succeeds, and whether VERTI-GO’s European construction phase delivers the performance data the Hunter project needs to attract financing — those are the two things worth watching. If both go to plan, the project could offer something the floating wind industry has struggled to produce: a viable route into markets that lack the infrastructure to welcome it.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
