Media Release
For immediate release: Monday 31 October 2005
Meridian Energy sells Southern Hydro for $A1.425bn
State-owned power generator and retailer Meridian Energy has sold its Australian subsidiary Southern Hydro to leading
Australian energy company AGL for $A1.425 billion.
Announcing the sale today Meridian Chief Executive Keith Turner says the sale reflects the growing value being placed on
renewable electricity generation internationally, as well as the value Meridian has added to the Southern Hydro assets
in the 2½ years it has owned them.
“In a world that is beginning to price carbon into the costs of producing energy, AGL has recognised the potential value
of adding the Southern Hydro assets to its generation portfolio. They have also recognised the significant improvements
to those assets that have resulted from the world-class hydro engineering expertise we have been able to contribute
during our ownership.”
Dr Turner says the sale includes the 62 megawatts (MW) of hydro assets in New South Wales bought by Meridian for $A85
million in April 2001, the 540MW, $A600 million Southern Hydro assets purchased in May 2003, the 91MW Wattle Point wind
farm it commissioned in May this year, as well as several wind farm and hydro developments currently in the advanced
development planning stages.
While the sale itself marked a successful outcome for Meridian, the foray into the Australian market had brought other
long-term benefits for both Meridian and New Zealand.
“By developing wind energy on both sides of the Tasman simultaneously, we were able to create economies of scale which
made large-scale wind generation economically feasible in this country.
“We are now at a stage where we are developing wind on a sufficient scale in New Zealand alone that achieves similar
economies.”
Dr Turner says the strong international interest shown in the Southern Hydro renewable assets is a powerful endorsement
of Meridian’s strategy of focussing solely on renewable generation.
“We want to congratulate AGL for also seeing the high value of renewable energy in Australia’s largely fossil-fuelled
electricity system,” he said.
ENDS