China buys Tasmanian wind farm

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HOBART, Australia, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A Chinese company has bought a majority share in a Tasmanian wind farm.

The deal, worth more than $88 million, saw Hydro Tasmania sell 75 percent of its stake in the Woolnorth Wind Farm to Chinese company Guohua Energy Investment.

Six months ago the government-owned Hydro Tasmania company and China Light and Power dissolved their Roaring 40s joint venture, leaving Hydro Tasmania with full ownership of its Tasmanian wind farms.

The Woolnorth Wind Farm sale is intended to provide capital for the $400 million Musselroe Wind Farm project being built in northeastern Tasmania, The Tasmanian government said in a release.

Australian Energy Minister Bryan Green said that Guohua Energy Investment as a result of the sale have a six-month exclusive option to negotiate involvement in the Musselroe Wind Farm's expansion as well.

"The Musselroe wind farm will have greater capacity than the combined generation of the Buff Point and Studland Bay wind farms at Woolnorth."

Under the terms of the agreement with Guohua Energy Investment, Hydro Tasmania will continue to manage and run Woolnorth Bluff Point's 37 wind turbines as well as Studland Bay's 27 installations.