Domestic power majors Suzlon Energy and Tata Power, which have renewable energy projects in Australia, will benefit as that country is implementing a law to ensure 20 per cent of the country’s electricity comes from renewable sources by 2020.
Sources said the expanded Renewable Energy Target (RET) Bill will be enacted as a law by the Australian Parliament in a few days and will come into force by September 2009. The bill proposes to add 1,000 Mega watt (Mw) of renewable energy every year as, at present, renewable energy sources account for only 8 per cent of Australia’s power production.
Wind turbine maker Suzlon is active in the Australian market since 2004 and is the largest turnkey constructor and operations and maintenance service provider of grid connected wind farms in Australia. It currently accounts for 38 per cent of the total installed wind power capacity in Australia.
So far, it has installed more than 200 Suzlon S88 2.1 model turbines that are generating over 430 Mw of electricity at four wind farms in South Australia. In addition, Suzlon has current contract commitments to commission a further 275 Mw by 2010, company sources said.
“With the passing of RET legislation, Suzlon anticipates a number of wind projects already approved to become a reality. We are well positioned with resources and equipment in place to capture a significant share of the 1,000 Mw of renewable energy installations that will be installed in Australia every year for the foreseeable future,” said Dan Hansen, chief executive of Suzlon Energy Australia Pty, the Australia operations arm of Suzlon Energy Limited.
He said Suzlon’s Australian contracts awarded to date are valued in excess of A$1.2 billion (over Rs 4,800 crore) and will see power generation of 700 Mw, enough to power over 4 lakh homes.
Tata Power Company (TPC), the largest private sector power producer in India, had forayed into geothermal energy by acquiring 10 per cent stake in Australia’s Geodynamics Ltd in September last year for $37 million (about Rs 165 crore, at the time).
“The acquisition was to get a foothold in the growing renewable energy market in Australia and to tap the synergistic opportunities that the alliance offers,” Prasad Menon, managing director of Tata Power, had reasoned.
Geodynamics, specialised in geothermal energy and Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), is one of 32 geothermal energy companies in Australia trying to tap the potential of this renewable form of energy, with focus on hot fractured rock (HFR) geothermal technology. Geodynamics plans to start its first geothermal power plant by 2012 with a 50 - Mw demonstration plant, and targets to become the largest geothermal power producer in Australia with 500 -Mw by 2016.
Geothermal energy is the natural heat found within the earth, where temperature increases with depth, typically by 10-50 degree Celsius per kilometre. In Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technology, heat is extracted from granites located at a depth of more than 4,000 metres by circulating water through these, in an engineered artificial reservoir. The heated water returns to the surface under pressure and is converted into electricity through a heat exchanger and geothermal power plant.
Geodynamics has geothermal exploration interests in three Australian states, including a license for exploring 2,000 sq km of area in Cooper Basin, which contains the hottest granites on earth and may provide an estimated thermal resource equivalent of 50 billion barrels of oil.
