jobs bonanza in victoria , page-20

Looks like expressions of interest for coal from the S7 area are closed.


Brown coal project has hidden sting

Grant McArthur
From: Herald Sun
June 02, 2012 12:00AM

GREEN campaigners say the Baillieu Government is being held to ransom over access to the state's brown coal resources.

The Herald Sun has revealed a consortium of Indian, Japanese and Australian companies plans to pump $11 billion into the state's economy through new Latrobe Valley coal projects.

But Environment Victoria said the investment would occur only if the group had taxpayer-funded support.

Documents released to the green group through Freedom of Information yesterday show the consortium's leader, Exergen, is seeking grants from the Victorian or Federal governments.

Exergen told the State Government last October the "availability of co-support funding through Energy Technology Innovation Strategy or other sources, such as federal" was a contributing factor to the project coming to Victoria.

A state government spokesman said companies seeking a brown coal allocation finished lodging expressions of interest last week and it was too early to speculate on which, if any, would get access to brown coal resources.

Environment Victoria's Mark Wakeham said documents showed Exergen wanted one billion tonnes of coal and support to build mines and power stations.

A state government spokesman said companies seeking a brown coal allocation finished lodging expressions of interest last week and it was too early to speculate on which, if any, would get access to brown coal resources.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/coal-project-has-a-hidden-sting/story-fn7x8me2-1226380976005