Australia's Silverton Windfarm Project Delayed Due to Policy Fears

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--Windfarm power developers in Australia have delayed a wave of construction projects due to fear and uncertainty over future renewable energy regulation policies. One of those projects is AGL Limited's (North Sydney, New South Wales) massive Silverton windfarm, which is now being reviewed and justified.

Silverton is a proposed, 250-megawatt (MW) windfarm project near Broken Hill, New South Wales. According to the proposal, AGL intends to expand the project to 1,000 MW in the future, which would make Silverton the largest windfarm in the Southern Hemisphere.

Nigel Bean, AGL's head of generation development, said that uncertainty surrounding the future of the carbon tax and a possible revision of the renewable energy target in Australia were factors behind the construction delay. AGL plans to revise the project in 2014 and, accordingly, seek contactors and permits.

AGL plans to spend $500 million on the construction and development of the first phase. The company already has shortlisted engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors, as well as turbine suppliers. However, the project is under review, and AGL has yet to secure a power-purchase agreement and full funding.

As part of the project, AGL would construct a 25-kilometer transmission line connecting the Phase I windfarm to the TransGrid substation at Broken Hill, while a 300-kilometer transmission line would be built in next phase to connect the windfarm with the Red Cliffs substation in Victoria and pass through Broken Hill.

If developed, the windfarm will supply renewable electricity to more than 430,000 New South Wales homes, and provide 800 jobs for western New South Wales during the five-year construction period.

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