AGL buys rights to mega wind farm

www.smh.com.au
23 Mar 2012

AGL Energy expects to start work next year building a 282-turbine, 300- MW ( MW) wind farm at Silverton, NSW, after acquiring the development rights for an unspecified sum, estimated at tens of millions of dollars. The $750 million project, acquired from Epuron and Macquarie Capital, adds to AGL Energy's already-significant 389 MW wind portfolio in Australia.

Silverton could eventually become the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere, with concept approval for a further 316 wind turbines in subsequent stages which could lift the capacity at the site to 1000 MW, subject to the capacity of the electricity network.

Deutsche Bank energy analyst John Hirjee said there was a ''reasonable likelihood'' that the first stage at Silverton would be developed, but subsequent stages would depend on the state of the market for Renewable Energy Certificates and carbon pricing from 2015.

The viability of major renewable projects has been hamstrung by an oversupply of large-scale RECs, generated by domestic solar panels and hot water systems before the renewable energy regulations were tightened.

''We see development of Silverton as a valuable in-house option for AGL Energy when oversupply eases,'' Mr Hirjee said. ''The company has previously indicated its RECs obligation is covered to 2015, around the time Silverton could commence production. We see further wind farm developments as consistent with AGL Energy's strategy of developing renewable energy assets in-house.''

AGL Energy managing director Michael Fraser said today the Silverton acquisition showed AGL Energy's ''ongoing commitment to developing Australia's leading privately owned portfolio of renewable energy assets, in which we have invested $3 billion over the past five years".

Draft New South Wales government planning guidelines for wind farms, announced late last year, could make further stages at Silverton harder to develop. The guidelines emulate restrictive wind farm regulations introduced in Victoria, which impose a buffer zone within which residents have a right of veto on new wind developments. Submissions on the draft guidelines closed last week.

Clean Energy Council Policy Director, Russell Marsh, warned if the final guidelines were too restrictive they could chase up to $6 billion of new wind farm investments away from NSW, generating 4000 jobs and providing clean power for the equivalent of more than two million homes.