Spindoctor John Wells. Now working for King Island wind farm opponents

Strong opposition from local residents appears to be mounting against the proposed Hydro Tasmania 600 MW King Island wind farm.

Around a third of King Island’s residents have already signed a petition against the TasWind renewable development.

Residents have expressed concerns that the $2 billion project could jeopardize tourism and developments such as a golf course currently planned for the windy island at Cape Wickham.

A Sydney-based public relations company has joined the protest against the massive wind development.

Wells Haslem is operated by principals Ben Haslem and John Wells. The company that has previously represented clients such as the Church of Scientology and the Exclusive Brethren, will join the ‘No TasWind’ fight against the 200 turbine development.

Hydro Tasmania is looking for a minimum 60 per cent of residents in favour of the project before embarking on a comprehensive feasibility study. A poll of the island’s 1400 inhabitants is currently being rolled out, and a “TasWind Consultative Committee” will oversee information and results.

Leigh Ewbank, spokesperson for Friends of the Earth, said that bringing Wells Haslem into the equation has revealed the anti-wind farm movements true motivations.

“The anti-wind farm movement has shown its true colours, that it is not a ‘grassroots’ movement, but rather an ‘astro-turf’ campaign backed by wealthy donors”, said Mr Ewbank.

Reports that initial No TasWind strategy meetings included a process that would aim to “amuse then scare” the community surfaced, but were denied by Mr Haslem.

Donald Graham, deputy of No TasWind said the advice of Wells Haslem is “very expensive, but we have our assets to protect”.
If development of the project is successful, the TasWind wind farm would produce enough power to satisfy the energy needs of around 240,000 homes.

Hydro Tasmania. Returns are falling as demand slows

Hydro Tasmania, which last year announced a record $103 million profit, is likely to see its financial performance suffer as energy demand slows and the carbon price falls.
The Tasmanian State Government, Hydro’s owner, has revealed it is budgeting for a major shortfall in revenue from the utility, which last year paid the Government an extra $50 million dividend on what was anticipated.
While Hydro has traded massive amounts of electricity across Basslink in 2012-13, the Government’s budget papers reveal it is anticipating a $70 million-a-year fall in revenue from state electricity businesses during the next three years.
Dividends and tax equivalents from Government Business Enterprises will return $330 million in 2013-14 compared with the forward estimate in last year’s Budget of $401 million.
In last year’s Budget the State Government estimated a $129 million dividend for 2013-14 from Hydro is now estimated to be $109.7 million.
“The decrease in dividends in 2015-16 and 2016-17 reflects the softening of demand across national electricity market and reduction in forecast carbon prices,” Budget Papers say.

FreedomPowerbank energy storage unit from ZEN

Modern off-grid living is now a reality for more Australians seeking refuge from rising energy costs, according to SA based energy solutions provider ZEN Energy.
“The numbers stack up for householders looking to switch off their dependence on the electricity grid and generate all their own power,” ZEN Energy Chief Executive Officer Richard Turner said.
“In the past people generally had to sacrifice lifestyle comforts to achieve an off-grid existence often powered by large antiquated diesel generators or big lead acid batteries in a shed out the back.
“With solar energy storage technology breakthroughs, householders can now continue to enjoy every modern comfort at less than the current cost of electricity.
“Pristine land that is not connected to the grid can also be purchased at far lower costs as utilities will generally charge $100,000 per km to connect power.”
ZEN has begun the first production run of its revolutionary Freedom PowerBank energy storage units. The units have been rolling off the production line in recent weeks to feed growing residential demand for off-grid living across Australia.
The ZEN Freedom Powerbank allows for the storage of home-produced solar electricity and makes it available 24 hours a day. This allows householders to either reduce their reliance on the national grid or step off it altogether.
The base system is capable of managing and storing 20kW hours of energy per day, which is the daily consumption of an average Australian home. For larger properties, additional 20kWh energy storage modules can be easily added.
“Looking to the future, the Powerbank will be electric vehicle charge station ready, offering householders the ability to generate power to run their own home and car,” Mr Turner said.
ZEN is currently in discussions with developers of eco villages interested in large scale installations of the Powerbank as well as individual householders across metropolitan, regional and semi rural areas.
Mr Turner said off-grid living for the average modern home could be achieved through the installation of a 7-10kW solar panel system, a ZEN Freedom Powerbank and a 10kW generator at a cost of 29c per kWh over the life of the system. The upfront system cost can then be added to your home loan for long term low interest finance.

It’s been a long road for Tesla, but the future now looks bright

US electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla Motors has reported its first healthy  profit since its inception in 2002, and managed to pay off a significant government loan ahead of schedule.

A profit of almost $17.5 million was recorded by Tesla for the first quarter of 2013. In all, the car producer created revenues of around $562 million during the quarter, a new record for Tesla. The profit shows an 83 per cent increase for sales during 2012.

In addition to vehicle manufacture, Tesla produces electric powertrain components and lithium-ion batteries to other car makers such as Toyota and Daimler.  Tesla partnered with Mercedes-Benz in developing the B-Class Electric Drive, earning them $9 million.

Tesla also managed to generate $82 million from the sale of zero emission credits to rival car manufacturers.

Tesla’s healthy sales have meant the EV maker has managed to pay back a $465 million US government loan nearly ten years ahead of schedule.

Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla used Twitter to announce the milestone: “Tesla wired the funds to repay the DOE loan today. Only US car company to have fully repaid govt.” The tweet being aimed at Chrysler, received a response from Chrysler’s head, Fiat Chief, Sergio Marchionne who claimed Chrysler had paid its own loan early. Marchionne tweeted the response “Question: Short memory or short-circuit?”

Regardless of the cyber spat, following Tesla’s announcement, the car makers shares rose 13 per cent.

In contrast to Ford’s car manufacturing woes in Australia, in the US, Ford hybrids are growing in popularity. The car giant expects to break its own 2010 sales record of 35,000 hybrids sold in the US, with this years figures already reaching 30,000 to date. However, Ford’s gain could prove to be Toyota’s loss, with the Ford Fusion hybrid outselling Toyota’s Camry hybrid, and Toyota showing a drop in sales this year of 12 per cent on the Prius.

Canadian interests have taken a 75pc stake in the Waterloo wind farm

EnergyAustralia will sell the majority of its stake in the Waterloo wind farm to Canada’s largest market funds management company, Northleaf Capital Parters and Australian infrastructure managers, Palisade Investment Partners.
EnergyAustralia is to receive a reported $228 million for 75 per cent of its share in Waterloo.
Palisade already has investments in the Hallet 1 wind farm in South Australia and the 82-megawatt peaking plant in Merredin in Western Australia.
Jamie Storrow, managing director of Northleaf Capital Partners said in a statement that Waterloo offered an attractive, risk-adjusted return. Investment returns are based on a 25-year lifespan for the wind farm and a contract to sell power to EnergyAustralia.
“Direct investment in mature, low-risk wind energy assets like the Waterloo wind farm is consistent with Northleaf Capital Partner’s investment strategy and offers significant potential for stable, long-term returns,” said Mr Storrow.
The 111-megawatt Waterloo wind farm in South Australia supplies energy to around 9,000 homes from 37 turbines.
The wind farm currently has a development approval lodged to expand its capacity another 18 megawatts by installing a further six turbines.
The sale of Waterloo is expected to be finalized by the end of June.

The Meridian float could raise more than NZ$3 billion for the Government

The New Zealand government has announced that the state-owned energy company Meridian Energy will be partially privatized.
A joint statement issued by State Owned Enerprises Minister Tony Ryall and Finance Minister Bill English, said that 49 per cent of Meridian will be floated during the second half of the year.
Meridian Energy is New Zealand’s most valuable utility. In 2011, Meridian was valued at $6.5 billion.
Similarly to the recent NZ$1.7 billion sell off of Mighty River, the Meridian sale will hold an initial public offering. Mighty River brought in 113,000 New Zealand retail investors, with around 77,000 investors never having owned a share prior to the uptake.
“Meridian will benefit from that same process, and New Zealanders will once again have the opportunity to invest in the Initial Public Offering of a large New Zealand company”, said Mr Ryall.
“A key first step in the offer process is for the half-year financial results of Meridian to be independently audited, and this will commence as soon as the results are confirmed after 30 June,” he added.
Meridian currently sells electricity to the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, but the smelter’s owner Rio Tinto has threatened to close the utility due to falling aluminium prices. Should Tiwai close, Meridian will have the luxury of selling electricity to a residential market for a higher price than is currently received from the smelter.

Ordinary Australians have invested an estimated $8 billion in small scale solar

Around 2 million residential solar panel owners will have access to a unified voice via a new Australian solar energy consumer lobby group, Solar Citizens, which has been launched this week.
Over $8 billion has already been invested in small-scale solar installations by Australians, according to Solar Citizens.
The group estimates that the equivalent of around $913 million in electricity will be generated by small-scale solar systems in the next year, creating increasing financial pressure on large energy providers in Australia.
According to Solar Citizens, the group aims to protect solar homeowners from unreasonable charges and tariffs, ensure they are able to connect to the grid, receive a fair price for power loaded to the grid, and are able to access the benefits of solar in their own home.
Solar Citizens sees the potential to attract up to 2 million participants (including solar hot water system owners), creating a powerful lobby group capable of combating the potential actions of governments “bowing down to power companies”.
“To date, ordinary Australians have together invested $8 billion in solar panels for their homes,” said Solar Citizens manager, Geoff Evans. “But it’s an investment that is under threat.”
“Solar owners are being discriminated against. Governments should be doing everything they can to encourage renewable energy initiatives like solar and not bowing down to the power companies.”
Mr Evans said that in New South Wales, residential solar is being bought by power companies, who then sell it on to consumers for three times the price.
The lobby group has identified two issues they will focus on initially.
In Tasmania, the possible cutting of feed-in tariffs are under threat, with the privatizing of the retail arm of Aurora Electricity.
In Queensland, the Queensland Competition Authority has suggested solar owners could be placed on a different billing system, a move that would potentially increase charges for households operating with residential solar systems.

Dr Scott Watkins

A solar cell consortium has installed a new solar cell printer at the CSIRO which produces paper-thin flexible plastic solar cells, 10 times bigger than traditional cells, which are printed at a speed of up to 10 metres per minute.
A partnership between the CSIRO, Monash University, the University of Melbourne and industry partners called the Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium (VICOSC), has resulted in the ability to print organic solar cells 30cm wide, a big jump from the 1cm cells produced in 2010.
According to CSIRO scientist, Dr Scott Watkins, the cells will satisfy a variety of uses – from being adhered to windows and roofing, to advertising signage.
“There are so many things we can do with cells this size,” he says. “We can set them into advertising signage, powering lights and other interactive elements. We can even embed them into laptop cases to provide backup power for the machine inside.”
The $200,000 printer uses common printing technology according to VICOSC project coordinator and University of Melbourne research Dr David Jones.
“We’re using the same techniques that you would use if you were screen printing an image on to a t-shirt,” said Dr Jones.
Producing a cell in two seconds, the printer uses semiconducting inks onto flexible steel or plastic. The organic cells produce power between 10-50 watts per square metre and are complimentary to standard silicon solar panels.
“The different types of cells capture light from different parts of the solar spectrum. So rather than being competing technologies, they are actually very complimentary,” said Dr Watkins.
The consortium is currently in commercial talks with a Victorian company looking at the possibility of incorporating the cells directly into windows.
Dr Watkins says the breakthrough could mean people could have the capacity to print solar panels themselves at home.
“It would definitely be feasible to do that.”
“The general concept of being able to manufacture on demand, in a house or in a workplace, is really a key feature of what we’re doing,” said Dr Watkins.

Dyesol is eyeing new global markets as a result of the breakthrough

Australian solar photovoltaic (PV) developer Dyesol Ltd has achieved what it describes as, a “game-changing” breakthrough after achieving a solid-state DSC efficiency of 11.3 per cent at full sun for one of its new solar cells.
Solid-state DSC performance was performing at five percent in 2010, substantially less effective than liquid based systems.
The increased efficiency is due to a change from liquid-based to solid-state products.
According to Dyesol, the improved-efficiency mesoscopic solar cells are able to satisfy the technological demands of mass manufacturing Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) products.
Dyesol say the new technology could open up a multi-billion dollar global market for the Australian company.
The improved technological performance will allow the cells to be grid competitive.
Dyesol cited countries with low light conditions as particularly benefiting from the breakthrough technology.
“This achievement is particularly important in solar markets where light conditions are sub-optimal, such as Europe, North America and North-East Asia, where Dyesol technology has a considerable advantage over first and second generation photovoltaic technologies,” Dyesol said.

The project is Zhenfa’s first outside of China

Sydney-based company, Zhenfa Solar Power Australia, a subsidiary of Chinese energy company, Zhenfa New Energy has lodged a development application for a 2MW solar photovoltaic (PV) farm in Tuggeranong in the ACT.

The $5 million project would be funded from Zhenfa and construction would entail a land based PV system and associated infrastructure.

If successful, the project would be developed and constructed with project partner AECOM.

An estimated 8,000 solar panels would be installed on the 2-megawatt facility, across 12-hectares of a 19 hectare site.

The solar PV farm would be the first for Zhenfa outside of China. If approval is granted, the project is expected to begin construction later this year.