Bank's energy plan

Age
Friday 26/9/2008 Page: 4

Investec, the South African investment bank, intends to develop more than $2 billion of wind-power projects in Australia to tap a government program encouraging increased use of renewable energy.

The bank won planning approval this week for a $700 million venture in Western Australia and is seeking clearance for a $210 million project in Victoria, said Mark Headland, responsible for renewable energy developments at the bank's Australian unit. Those would be followed by a larger project, costing at least $1.2 billion, in Queensland, he said.

The Federal Government has pledged to introduce a target to increase use of renewable energy to 20% of electricity supplies by 2020 to tackle global warming. Conergy AG, Origin Energy and Mitsui & Co are among companies seeking to gain from the clean-energy ruling, which should ensure revenue for wind and solar projects that otherwise may not be profitable.

The Government has set a timetable of having its renewable energy target legislated by the middle of next year. It proposes to aim for an extra 45,000 gigawatt-Hours of renewable energy supply by 2020, which, with existing supply of about 15,000 gigawatt-hours, will take 2020 use to 60,000 gigawatt-hours.

"We're very excited about the Government's impending 20% renewables target; it's what drives our interest in becoming involved in these projects," Mr Headland said. "The key to the process is obviously the market support implicit in the regulations that will underpin the target," he said. Investec would probably start detailed design work on the 270-megawatt Collgar project, about 295 kilometres east of Perth, in the first quarter of next year, Mr Headland said.

The project will produce enough electricity to power about 160,000 homes. Similar work should get under way on the 43-turbine Oaklands Hill wind farm south of Glenthompson in western Victoria about the same time, depending on approval. The two projects, Investec's first wind energy ventures in Australia, may start operating in late 2010, Mr Headland said. The Coopers Gap project, about 180 kilometres north west of Brisbane, will involve as many as 250 turbines and may start up in early to mid- 2011, Mr Headland said.