Consortium acquires A$88m wind farm

Australian energy company AGL has sold one of its South Australian wind farms to a group of infrastructure investors for A$88 million (€53 million; $77 million).

The Energy Infrastructure Investments (EII) consortium, comprising Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation, Osaka gas and Australian transmission firm APA Group, has acquired the Hallett 4 wind farm.

Hallett 4: A$88m in development fees

AGL will receive payment in the form of development fees on a completion-of-construction basis, for the 132-megwatt facility which is still at the development stage. AGL expects to receive fees from EII of between A$50 million – A$60 million in 2010, with the remainder to be paid in 2011, the company said in an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

AGL is to remain responsible for the operation and maintenance of the wind farm, in addition to the rights to Renewable Energy Certificates and electricity output until 2036. The firm is set to be relieved of around A$160 million of capital expenditure funding following the transaction.

AGL CEO Michael Fraser said the company has a renewable energy project pipeline with a combined capacity of around 2,600 megawatts. 900 megawatts of these schemes are currently operation for AGL, which is the largest private owner and operator of renewable energy assets in Australia.

In August Australia’s senate passed a law committing the country to producing 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.