Tasmania hydro lodges 130 MW Australia wind plan

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
AUSTRALIA: February 21, 2000

MELBOURNE - Tasmania's state-owned Hydro-Electric Corp said it had lodged a development application for a wind farm of up to 130 megawatts at Woolnorth in the state's northwest.

The application to the Circular Head Council is for a staged development, with the first 10 MW of capacity to be connected to the state's grid by January/February 2001.

"This is the first step in our strategy for achieving business growth through the development of new renewable energy resources," Hydro chief executive Geoff Willis said in a statement.

The Hydro has forecast that up to 400 MW of wind-fired power could be developed in the state, offering potential for green energy to be sold through the Basslink transmission line which is expected to link Tasmania with Victoria be the end of 2002.

Tasmania has power demand around 1,100 MW, which is currently met by hydro-electricity produced by the state-owned generator, but further increases in hydro capacity have been constrained by environmental issues.

Additional power is expected to come from Basslink, wind and possibly gas-fired generation.

There are plans for 365 megawatts of gas-fired energy to be produced from a revamped Bell Bay Power station, if an undersea gas pipeline to Victoria's Longford gas processing plant is approved.

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