Some dredging will be required to facilitate the arrival and departure of offshore wind supply and installation vessels.
The preferred design for the Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal has a 70% reduction to the dredging footprint compared to the previous design referred in 2023 to the Commonwealth Government under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
For the Terminal to support the development of offshore wind, areas of the seabed within the project area will need to be deepened to account for the size and draft of the vessels that will use the Terminal. Currently, parts of this area are not deep enough to receive these vessels and safely move them through Western Port.
There is a long history of dredging in Western Port. It is reported to have started in the 1870s to support the growing oyster industry. Since then, dredging and reclamation activities have continued. Up until 2025, approximately 2.75 million cubic metres had been dredged within Western Port.
Most of this material was disposed of onshore at a range of locations, including the Old Tyabb Reclamation Area. Some material was disposed offshore at a range of dredge disposal grounds across Western Port.
Dredging still occurs in Western Port for maintenance activities to ensure the safe and efficient operations of boating infrastructure such as ramps, jetties and channels. Western Port has a long history of balancing human activity and infrastructure in the region with the environment. Industrial and port operations have co-existed with the Western Port environment since the 1800s.
From our environmental assessments and long history operating in the region, we know that the Western Port environment is resilient. Our environmental assessments and field studies have evidenced to us that despite the long history of dredging in Western Port, the ecosystem and marine environment continues to flourish and function.
Dredging is the term used for removing materials from the seabed of shipping channels, ports, rivers, lakes and other waterways. The process involves excavating or collecting material from the seabed and then transporting the dredged material to a disposal site for it to be safely unloaded. Dredged material and sediment mainly consist of sand, silts, clays and rocks.
There are two main types of dredging, capital dredging and maintenance dredging.
Because vessels require a certain amount of water to float and not touch the seabed, port and shipping channel managers need to dredge to increase or maintain the depth of the channel and berthing areas to ensure vessels can safely move through the water. Dredging is an important part of ensuring a shipping channel, berthing pocket and swing basin is safe and functional.
A backhoe dredger and several hopper barges will be used to dredge the seabed and are proposed to operate 24/7. A service barge will handle and transfer the dredged material from the hopper barges to the new reclamation area. All dredged material will be reused on the project site.
Based on the current design, the extent of dredging has been significantly reduced by approximately 70%, compared to the 2023 project referral submitted to the Commonwealth Government.
The project design is still subject to further design changes, however PoHC recognises the importance of reducing dredging as far as practical to minimise environmental impact.
During construction, we will use a range of techniques to manage and minimise the impact of dredging. A silt curtain will be installed around the site to capture sediment and particles that are disturbed during dredging and reclamation. This involves creating a physical barrier between the site and the surrounding tidal waters to capture and collect any disturbed material, preventing dispersion.
No overflow of dredged material on the hopper barges will be allowed for loading and transporting the material.
The water quality will be monitored and managed in the dredge area against regulatory requirements
