Suntech/Infigen
Sunntech Power Holdings Co. and Infigen Energy propose building four solar farms in NSW as part of the Solar Flagship Scheme.

The consortium’s Flagship submission outlines the following proposed projects;

• $300 million, 100MW solar farm in Nyngan ,
• $180 million, 60MW project in Moree,
• $150 million 50MW project at Manildra, and
• $150 million, 50MW project at Bungendore.

Infigen is also investigating a site in Mildura, in Victoria state, for a potential solar farm, according to its website.

Meridian
New Zealand government-owned Meridian Energy Ltd has appointed Ben Burge as the chief executive to develop its business in Australia. Mr Burge will be responsible for driving the company’s growth in the Australian market.

Carbon Price
President Barack Obama’s abandoning of the attempt to get a US emissions trading scheme sets back Julia Gillard’s bid to put a price on carbon, a member of her business advisory group on carbon pricing has said.

Origin Energy
Origin Energy’s $1 billion, 630 MW combined cycle Darling Downs Power Station was officially opend on Friday. The CCGT plant is located 40km west of Dalby is powered by coal seam gas piped from the Australia Pacific LNG gas fields. The plant consists of three 120 MW gas turbines and a 270MW steam turbine,

The construction of the power station also included a 205 kilometre pipeline that stretches from the Wallumbilla gas hub near Roma to the Talinga gas production facility. The pipeline will provide up to 44 petajoules of gas to the power station each year.

Suzlon
Suzlon will lay off 110 employees at its turbine rotor blade plant in Minnesota, citing the sluggish US economy and downturn in the wind energy sector.

Energy Australia
Energy Australia has warned of a $600 million blow-out in power bills next year, claiming the federal government has underestimated the number of certificates it will issue as an incentive for installing small-scale solar energy systems on homes and businesses.

Original modelling showed that up to 11 million of Small-scale Technology Certificates, worth $40 each, would be issued next year. But Energy Australia, backed by other business and industry groups, claims this will blow out to about 30 million because the take-up rate of solar energy will be greater than anticipated.