Federal Climate Minister Chris Bowen approves a scaled-down offshore wind energy zone off Illawarra coast, covering 1022 sq km.

Federal Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen approves a downsized offshore wind energy zone off Illawarra coast, originally proposed at 1461 sq km. The final zone, covering 1022 sq km, is 20 km offshore to combat community opposition and will exclude environmentally significant areas. The project, set to power 1.8 million homes, is expected to create 1740 jobs during construction and 870 ongoing jobs.