Origin Energy has signalled that it will exit all its international geothermal assets and sell its share in a number of Australian wind farms, while AGL has attributed its subdued investment in renewables to political uncertainty.
Origin’s wind farms will be sold with power purchase agreements and include the Stockyard Hill Wind Farm in Victoria and Cullerin Range in New South Wales.
Meanwhile, AGL Chairman Jerry Maycock conceded that the company has a large carbon dioxide emissions profile due to its purchase of the Loy Yang A coal plant in Victoria and the Bayswater and Liddell coal plants of Macquarie Generation in New South Wales.
He said structural market issues will need to be resolved to facilitate future investment in renewable generation.
“Those of you who have owned AGL shares for some time will recall that during the last decade AGL has been the largest private sector developer of large-scale renewable energy projects in Australia,” AGL Chairman Jerry Maycock said in AGL’s annual general meeting opening address.
“However, the rate at which we have committed to further investments of this type has slowed dramatically, in line with other investors, as political uncertainty surrounding the Federal Renewable Target became acute.”
The company also attributed its restraint to debates around Clean Energy Finance Corporation funding, various government inquiries into wind farms, and depressed wholesale electricity prices.
Mr Maycock also used his address to call for a “coherent national plan” that would lead to the decarbonisation of Australia’s power generation.
He reiterated that AGL would not construct further coal-fired generators in the absence of technology such as carbon capture and sequestration, nor will it extend the lives of its existing coal-fired generators.
However, he acknowledged that existing coal-fired assets were still important to the advancement of renewables.
“…the profits and cash flow from these coal-powered generators will enable us to continue to invest in renewable assets if and when the investment climate improves, as well as, for example, funding investment in new digital technology and energy storage products which will soon become a more significant feature in any Australian households,” Mr Maycock said.
