Monday 5 March 2007

Allco backs gas-powered alternative energy source

Age
Monday 5/3/2007 Page: 2

TWO months after announcing plans to build the biggest wind farm in the US, Allco Finance has made another investment in alternative energy, putting up to $7 million into a supplier of gas-powered electricity.

Sydney-based GridX Power uses natural-gas-powered generators to supply electrical, heating and cooling requirements. The unlisted company would use the money, payable subject to the meeting of certain criteria, for expansion plans, general manager Craig Chambers said.

GridX, which supplies energy to homes in western Sydney in partnership with a building developer, says its on-site natural-gas-powered generators can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent, compared with coal-fired generation.

Industry submissions to the Prime Minister's task group looking into emissions trading close this week, but an Allco spokeswoman said the financier's decision was not influenced by the potential introduction of carbon trading. She said the investment was a neat fit for the financier's infrastructure and energy focus.

"We see it as a growing market," she said. "The technology that they're using is helping out areas where infrastructure for energy structure is poor and it's got wider applications as well." In December Allco unveiled plans to build a $US2.5 billion ($A3.2 billion) wind energy project in California to meet institutional demand for wind investments. The wind farm will supply power equivalent to that used by 1 million households. It will be as much as 75 per cent debt funded.

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