Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Energy plan confuses wind farm companies

You and me both, brother.

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

The federal government's clean energy target - expected to replace state-based schemes by 2010 - is causing uncertainty for renewable energy providers, a company behind plans to build a $2 billion wind farm in NSW says.

Renewable energy group Epuron is to announce a proposal to install about 500 wind turbines northwest of Broken Hill, in western NSW, saying they could generate enough electricity for 400,000 homes.

The project would produce up to 4.5 per cent of NSW annual energy needs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by three million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

Speaking on ABC Radio, Epuron executive director Martin Poole said the federal government's clean energy target had created confusion in the renewable energy sector, which had previously been working within the state-based frameworks....continued

Here's more on the really big wind farm, from the International Herald Tribune:

Conergy, the largest solar-power company in Germany, plans to build a 2 billion Australian dollar, or $1.8 billion, wind project in Australia's New South Wales state to take advantage of proposed legislation supporting renewable energy use.

The development will comprise as many as 500 turbines with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, producing enough electricity for 400,000 homes and making it the largest wind project in Australia, Andrew Durran, the executive director of the Epuron unit of Conergy in Australia, said Monday. Construction may start in 2009 and take three to four years....MORE

And from Bloomberg:
Conergy Slumps After New Finance Chief Is Named

Conergy AG, Germany's largest solar- power company, fell the most in more than a year in Frankfurt trading after the company named a new chief financial officer.

Conergy fell 8.9 percent, the biggest drop since August last year, to 60.12 euros, valuing the Hamburg-based company at 1.98 billion euros ($2.78 billion)....