AGL's Massive Silverton Windfarm among Australian Projects Delayed for Fear of Policy Changes

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--Several windfarm developers have had to delay construction projects in Australia due to fears and uncertainty about regulatory and political instability surrounding renewable energy regulation. A wave of new power plants that are due to come online in the next couple of years have been put hold and are in a state of flux.

AGL Limited's (North Sydney, New South Wales) massive, 250-megawatt (MW) Silverton windfarm, which is now being reviewed, is an example. Nigel Bean, AGL's head of generation development, reported that uncertainty surrounding the future of the carbon tax and a possible revision in the renewable energy target were all factors behind the construction delay.

AGL is planning to revise the project in 2014, and accordingly seek contactors and permits. Silverton is a windfarm project that was proposed near Broken Hill in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. According to the actual proposal, AGL intends to eventually expand the project to 1,000 MW. The proposed expansion would make Silverton the largest windfarm in the Southern Hemisphere.

AGL will spend $500 million in the construction and development of the first phase. The company has shortlisted the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor and turbine supplier for the project; however, the final decision is under review. AGL has yet to secure a power purchase agreement and the full level of funding for the project.

As part of the proposal, AGL will construct a 25-kilometer transmission line that will connect the Phase I windfarm to the TransGrid substation at Broken Hill; a 300-kilometer transmission line will be built in the next phase to connect the windfarm with the Red Cliffs substation in Victoria and pass through Broken Hill. If developed, the windfarm will supply clean, renewable electricity for more than 430,000 NSW homes, and provide 800 jobs for western NSW during the five-year construction period.

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