$80m wind farm to China

Launceston Examiner
Saturday 10/2/2007 Page: 12

THE Hydro Tasmania joint venture Roaring 40s has secured a lucrative $80 million contract with the China Datang Corporation. The deal to develop the second phase of a 200MW wind farm development in China follows last week's successful trade visit to the State by CDT's president Zhai Ruoyo.

Energy minister David Llewellyn, who was in China to witness the deal, said it was Roaring 40s' third major Chinese contract. CDT is China's largest power generator with assets of more than $12 billion and a total generation capacity of more than 50,000MW. Roaring 40s is already working on the company's 58-turbine Shuangliao Wind Farm in the Jilin Province.

The deal came as Premier Paul Lennon announced new hope for the future of wind generation in Tasmania. Mr Lennon said a new Declaration on Climate Change, signed by all State Labor leaders at a meeting in Sydney yesterday, could provide a boost for investment in renewable energy, even if the Commonwealth refused to come on board.

"The states and territories are committed to working together on developing a responsible emissions trading scheme, regardless of whether the Commonwealth chooses to be involved," Mr Lennon said.

While in Sydney the Premier also attended Prime Minister John Howard's summit on water where he gained an assurance Tasmania would not be left out of the Commonwealth's $10 billion national water plan.