As much as $3 billion in wind farm investments may be diverted elsewhere as the NSW government dithers over guidelines and reporting procedures, developers and suppliers say.
Companies have been waiting since December 2011 for the O’Farrell government to settle on rules such as how close to houses turbines can be installed and acceptable noise levels.
Investors were cheered by last month’s federal government decision to leave existing settings in place for the renewable energy target, with the aim of generating 45,000 gigawatt-hours a year by 2020. ROAM consultants calculate NSW’s wind generation capacity could soar 15-fold over the rest of the decade, given the quality of the wind resource and the existing infrastructure.
Ken McAlpine, director of government relations at Vestas Wind Systems – the world’s largest maker of turbines – said his company remains optimistic the state government will strike the right balance. The lengthy consideration, though, adds to uncertainty, as does the possibility of stringent noise standards being set.
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