More jobs? Answer's blowing in the wind

Adelaide Advertiser
Wednesday 1/4/2009 Page: 14

More than 100 jobs will be created when construction begins this year on a new $340 million windfarm north of Adelaide. Yesterday, AGL Energy Ltd announced it would develop the Hallett 4 windfarm at North Brown Hill, 220km north of Adelaide near Jamestown. The deal will be a boost to the midnorth region with spin-off spending expected to flow to restaurants, hotels and suppliers.

The North Brown Hill farm will be the third project developed by AGL Energy Ltd in the Hallett Ranges. It is located immediately to the north of AGL's Hallett 1 farm. AGL Energy managing director Michael Fraser said the company was also likely to commit to developing two more farms in the region. "The Hallett Range is world class as a wind resource area," he said. "After Hallett 4, we have got the Hallett 3 Mount Bryan project and then hopefully Hallett 5 - if we commit to those then that is another three to four years of construction in the region."

Mr Fraser said he hoped construction at the site would begin within four months. He said 120 jobs would be created during the construction phase and a further 10 permanent roles created for the farm's ongoing operations. "There is a huge flow-on effect to the local community - by the time we have finished in the Hallett region we will have invested over $1 billion in the community. That is a huge investment." Mr Fraser said $140 million would be spent on the project before the end of June this year, with the remaining $201 million spent over the next two years.

AGL signed the agreement with Dutch company Suzlon, which manufactures the wind turbines in India. The four approved windfarms in the Hallett region have a total of 153 turbines and a cost of $700 million. Hallett 4 will consist of 63 turbines and produce 132 MWs of power. When complete, the combined power output of the three farms will be 1300 MWs.