AGL is ready to go on acquisition trail  

The Australian reports that AGL is ready to expand further in the local energy sector, and notes their strong position in renewable generation already - AGL is ready to go on acquisition trail.

AGL chief executive Michael Fraser is not holding his breath for the long-debated privatisation of the NSW Government's energy assets.

But if Nathan Rees' Government does announce the timetable for the sale of the retail arms of its electricity distribution network, which could come as early as this month, AGL, Australia's largest energy company, is there ready, and able to borrow as much as $2 billion if needs be -- if the deal is right. ...

In December, the company announced it had raised another $1.127 billion from the sale of its oil and gas interests in Papua New Guinea.

That month provided another boost for the company, with the Rudd Government's confirmation of its mandatory renewable energy target -- that 20 per cent of Australia's energy supplies will have to come from renewable energy by 2020.

AGL is already Australia's largest owner of renewable energy, with about 27 per cent of its total generation capacity in clean energy investments such as wind farms and hydro-electric plants.

Fraser has big plans to boost the company's renewable energy assets to ride the expected long-term growth in the sector, with plans to expand in wind farms, hydro-power and coal seam gas as well as less proven technologies such as geothermal (hot rocks).

"We can see, in the long term, between 40 to 50 per cent of our generation capacity will come from renewables," he says, "We are the only Australian energy company generating from a full suite of proven renewable technologies. We are already the largest private owner and operator of renewable energy assets in Australia, with nearly 1000MW of renewable generation capacity. "We can see the potential for a fourfold increase in our renewable generation capacity over the longer term."

In October this year, AGL will commission its $234 million, 140MW Bogong hydro-power plant, in the mountains near the skifields of Victoria.

The largest hydro electric generating plant built in Australia in more than 20 years, the Bogong plant will provide electricity into the Victorian electricity grid for peak periods. It represents a major expansion of the company's Kiewa hydro-scheme, which AGL bought from Southern Hydro in 2005.

Fraser took a group of analysts to see the project -- which involve building a 6.9km tunnel through the rock that will allow "ultra fast" electricity generation when it flows down inside the mountain towards the generator -- in December to highlight the company's renewable energy commitment.

He says the federal Government's renewable energy targets will require the equivalent of 45,000GW hours of renewable energy or 10 Snowy Mountain hydro electricity schemes, which he predicts will prompt a new generation of investment in the renewable energy sector in Australia.