July 22, 2014
Australia

Wind farm projects on hold during Renewable Energy Target review

ABC News | 22 July 2014 | www.abc.net.au

Green energy company Pacific Hydro has put future projects on hold because of uncertainty about a review of the Renewable Energy Target (RET).

Hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in investment are at risk, according to the company.

Pacific Hydro has five wind farms in south-western Victoria and a number of other geothermal, hydro and solar power projects across Australia.

The company wants to build more wind farms at Crowlands, near Ararat and Yaloak South, in the Moorabool Shire.

But the company said the future of those projects was now uncertain and would depend on the outcome of the RET review.

Former Reserve Bank board member Dick Warburton is heading the review and will report back to the Federal Government by the middle of the year.

The target is designed to make sure 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity comes from renewable sources by 2020.

Company spokesman Andrew Richards said any reduction in the RET would also have an impact on existing wind farms.

“It’s a market that’s been created for renewable energy, so whenever you reduce demand in any kind of market, the prices of that product will fall quite dramatically,” he said.

“A reduction of the RET or a removal of the RET will obviously have a significant impact on demand.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/07/22/wind-farm-projects-on-hold-during-renewable-energy-target-review/