Australian expansion in the wind

State-owned power company Meridian Energy is mulling investment of up to A$600 million ($684 million) on wind energy projects in Australia over the next five years.

The proposed investment in Victoria and South Australia is dependent on the Australian Federal Government keeping its Mandated Renewable Energy Target (MRET) scheme, designed to encourage renewable energy.

Meridian announced in March that it was spending $640 million to buy 10 hydro stations in Victoria.

In 2001 it invested about $100 million to buy five small hydro stations in New South Wales and Victoria.

Meridian spokesman Alan Seay said Meridian had big plans to invest in new generation in New Zealand too. This included the huge $1.2 billion, 524MW Project Aqua hydro scheme on the Waitaki river. If it gets consents, that would meet a third of the Government's long-term strategy for increased "renewable" generation.

Meridian also plans to build 55 wind turbines in the Ruahine Ranges. The $100 million Te Apiti project still needs resource consent.

Meridian chief executive Keith Turner told the Sydney Morning Herald last week that the company had received planning approvals for a 100MW, A$150 million wind farm on Eyre Peninsula, South Australia.

"We also have a portfolio of sites in Victoria, eight or nine, which are under investigation, and we expect to get half of those up in the next four or five years," Turner said.

Seay said the A$600 million price tag put on the wind farms was calculated by the newspaper from the number of wind turbines Meridian planned to build. But he did not contradict the price tag.

New Zealand had signed the Kyoto protocol limiting carbon fuel emissions, but Australia had not. However, Turner said MRET meant Australia "was actually taking steps to curb greenhouse emissions while New Zealand was not".

He said Meridian was "not here [in Australia] to dabble, we're a serious player".

Meridian would fund the $2 billion of investments planned on both sides of the Tasman through debt and its strong cash flows.

"The Australian activities are in no way affecting the plans that we have here [New Zealand]," Seay said.

Turner also told the Sydney Morning Herald that the Government had said it could put more equity into Meridian under certain circumstances.

- NZPA