Trustpower's Oz expansion has wind in sails

Vince Hawksworth.

Trustpower has two projects in its Australian pipeline which are ready for the green light now the new Australian Renewable Energy Target has been agreed, says chief executive Vince Hawksworth.

They are the proposed 260 MW Palmer project in South Australia, and the 250-320 MW Dundonald project in Victoria.

"We'd like to think those two will have got through the approvals process by the end of the calendar year, and then we'll know where we're at with them," said Mr Hawksworth, adding that a two-to-three year time frame was a reasonable expectation to get the projects up and running.

The company's first Australian windfarm Snowtown, which straddles the Barunga and Hummocks ranges 170km north of the South Australian capital Adelaide, is evidence of a decade-long strategy to increase the company's power options beyond New Zealand. To date, only Meridian Energy has also explored wind power options in Australia, but to a lesser extent.

Snowtown, completed last November, represents about one-third of the company's total installed power generation and is the planned first phase of a significant expansion across the Tasman.

In addition to Palmer and Dundonald, Trustpower has developed an extensive pipeline of other potential projects, and is also at the initial stages of having researched sites at Rye Park, in NSW (up to 300MW), Wingeel in Victoria, at a very early state (400MW), and another as yet undisclosed location in Victoria (400MW). The company also has an early stage option on another potential site in NSW, which could be in the 500-600MW range.