$19bn green cash hangs on Senate energy vote

Adelaide Advertiser
Saturday 12/6/2010 Page: 83

GREEN investments worth up to $19 billion will be unlocked if renewable energy legislation being introduced in the Senate next week is passed, the Federal Government said yesterday.

Speaking at the Roaring 40s wind farm, being built at Waterloo, 30km from Clare, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said hundreds of jobs hinged on the legislation, which sets a pathway to 20% of electricity being generated by renewable sources by 2020. Included in the potential projects are two new wind farms - each worth about $300 million - being planned by Roaring 40s in South Australia's Mid North. "The legislation will be the stimulus to take those forward," Roaring 40s managing director Steve Symons said.

The Waterloo wind farm is well advanced in construction and is expected to be plugged into the national electricity grid by mid-August. It is on target to be operational before the end of the year, generating up to 111MW of power, or enough to power 46,000 homes. Senator Wong said: "This is an important time for building a clean-energy future. "The next fortnight is critical because from the Government's changes to the renewable energy targets will arise $19 billion of investments. "Projects like this, that's what's up for grabs."

The reforms create separate renewable energy certificate regimes for small-scale generators, such as household solar panels, and large scale, such as wind farms. The Government, under pressure over its green credibility because of the shelving of the emissions trading scheme, will prioritise passage of the reforms. "I hope this will be different from the carbon pollution reduction scheme," Senator Wong said. If passed, the reforms will add about $64 a year to a typical household electricity bill, $3 more than under current rules.

Opposition Climate Action spokesman Greg Hunt said the Coalition had identified problems with the existing regime which had led to a flood of certificates from small-scale generators. "We look forward to constructive negotiations in the coming days," Mr Hunt said. Roaring 40s, owned by Hydro Tasmania and Hong Kong's CLP Mirvac, has already invested more than $100 million of the $300 million it will spend on Waterloo. "This project is putting money back into the pockets of South Australians, with all civil and electrical contractors sourced from SA," Mr Symons said.

For the next two farms - Stony Gap and Robertstown - landowner agreements were in place, wind monitoring was in progress and studies were being done on transmission. The Waterloo workforce peaked at about 150 but will reduce to six permanent jobs. Among them will be operations supervisor Ben McFarlane, who moved from Tasmania with wife Katrina and their son to live in Clare to oversee the plant. "I'll be here long-term," he said. The 3MW wind turbines were bought from Danish company Vestas. They will sit on top of 80m high steel towers built in Kilburn by RPG Australia.