We all know renewable power is the fastest growing market in energy, but did you know that wind, of all the renewable energy sources, was the most popular among them?
We’ve talked previously about Australia’s wind power ambitions, and the opposition it faced. Now, as more supporters emerge, the South Australian Canberra is taking that ambition to a new level.
Already Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory Government are poised 
to be running on 90% renewable electricity by 2020. Now, they want to go the extra mile and achieve 100% renewable energy by 2025.
And one French company has stepped up to help.
Neoen, a solely renewable energy developer, builder, and financer, has joined with the ACT Government in a $250 million venture to build Europe’s largest wind farm.
The project will include 32 wind turbines installed across the South Australian hills. Neoen already owns Australia’s Hornsdale wind project, which it plans to expand after this venture with another round of public funding. An estimated $500 million more will be used to add wind turbines to the Australian national grid.
The wind energy market is becoming more and more competitive as the popularity of the technology grows. But Neoen has an advantage over many other similar companies: it has several European Banks funding it.
The vote of support and investment from Europe is set to be long term, with some contracts already signed for the next 20 years.
Neoen, and wind power companies like it, will need that kind of funding to keep renewable energy commercially available. Already, renewable sources account for 14% of Australian electricity, and 4% of that is wind according to Origin Energy, Australia’s leading integrated energy company.
And as the technology gets better, wind power is even becoming competitive with conventional fossil fuels on the electricity market.
Frank Woitiez, Managing Director of Neoen Australia, said these ventures would not have been possible without the financial support of the ACT Government and European Banks; and future projects will need similar support to stay valuable to the public.
To continue reading…
Click here to read the ABC article.
Christian DeHaemer
Check us out on YouTube!Christian is the founder of Bull and Bust Report and an editor at Energy and Capital. For more on Christian, see his editor’s page.
