Both Malcolm Turnbull and Greg Hunt are keen renewable supporters open to a little 'creative destruction' in electricity generation. I expect the SP to advance pronto, particularly as Bodangora and Forsayth require no further cash commitment from IFN. A sustained higher SP is essential to a capital raise to fund their substantial project pipe. Don't groan at this prospect, the projects are highly attractive, particularly after big technical efficiency leaps in turbines over the last decade.
My observations in my prior comment confirmed in the AFR today.
‘‘We’ve moved three of our seven or eight development projects forward since the RET announcement (in May),’’ says Richard Farrell, head of investor relations at listed renewable producer Infigen.
The company was forced to put development of its project pipeline, worth around $2.5 billion or 1200 megawatts of generation capacity, on hold while negotiations over the RET dragged out.
Most of those projects were at an advanced stage or ‘‘shovel-ready’’ with connection arrangements already in place, and some have now been progressed since May when consensus was achieved on a new 33,000 gigawatt-hour target, Farrell says.
Infigen has since signed a partnership with a turbine supplier to jointly develop two wind farms, the 100-megawatt, 33-turbine Bodangora windfarm near Dubbo, NSW and the 75-megawatt, 30-turbine Forsayth windfarm in Far North Queensland. Work on the Cherry Tree wind farm near Seymour in Victoria continues.
‘‘We’ve got a partner that sees value in the pipeline and wants to progress it,’’ says Mr Farrell. ‘‘That shows that it’s not just us, who are already invested in the sector, but others that have a belief that these projects will get built.’’
IFN Price at posting:
26.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
