Ocean Winds, a 50-50 joint venture (JV) between French energy giant Engie and Spanish renewables company EDP, has applied to develop offshore wind projects off the coast of Victoria, Australia.

Ocean Winds, through its bidding company High Sea Wind, tendered three applications for wind projects totalling close to 4GW of renewable energy capacity in Victoria’s Gippsland area. The JV already has 1.5GW of renewable power generation in operation globally, with a further 1.9GW under construction and 13.2GW in the development phase. The company is aiming to reach 5–7GW of functional generation by 2025. This includes the 950MW Moray East wind farm in the UK.

“Ocean Winds is confident that the plan contained in our applications will not only secure the first offshore wind farms in Australia, but also deliver significant economic benefits to the region,” said Bautista Rodriguez Sanchez, Ocean Winds CEO. Ocean Winds has reportedly been considering entering Australia’s energy market for a number of months.

Rodriguez continued: “We firmly believe our three applications together represent an ideal pathway for the establishment of offshore wind in Australia.”

In December, Gippsland was declared Australia’s first offshore wind region. The state of Victoria has a goal of utilising renewables as 95% of the state’s energy mix by 2035, with a target of 4GW of renewable capacity operational in the area by that time. On announcement, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters that the 15,000km² offshore area is “one of the most significant wind resources anywhere in the world”.

Ocean Winds is currently present in seven different countries including the UK, US and South Korea, but has never worked in Australia. The company recently took over the shares in a floating wind company, Principle Power, from parent company EDP.