OneWind Australia to launch $2bn wind energy projects totalling 1GW

OneWind Australia, renewable energy company, is outlining an investment of $2bn to launch five wind energy projects with a total power capacity of 1GW in the country.

The company has planned these projects in five states of Australia – New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland.

In an interview with Bloomberg, OneWind Australia managing director Michael Toke confirmed the plans saying that the company expects an investment of between $1.5bn and $2bn for these wind projects.

However, it needs to get into power-supply agreements for the projects, said Toke.

OneWind has outlaid the project expansion to leverage declining cost of wind power in Australia and also help the country attain its target of deriving 20% of its power from renewable energy by 2020.

According to the data compiled by the new agency, In Australia, the electricity from a new wind farm is supplied at a cost of A$80 ($77) per megawatt hour, while it is A$143 ($138) a megawatt hour from a new coal-fired power plant.

"Compared with other places in the world, wind is quite competitive in this market," claimed Toke.

"It’s a combination of the competitiveness of wind and the need for new renewables here. There’s an opportunity to generate good returns."

Of the five proposed projects, the company is first planning to launch 100MW Glen Innes plant in New South Wales.

OneWind Australia was formed as a joint venture entity by private equity firm Denham Capital along with Enersis Australia, National Power and Kato Capital.

Earlier in May 2013, Denham had invested $75m in the venture to build wind energy projects.