EPURON has welcomed the Federal Government's announcement yesterday detailing the draft legislation for the mandatory renewable energy target (RET) of 20 per cent.

Sydney, December 18, 2008: EPURON has welcomed the Federal Government's announcement yesterday detailing the draft legislation for the mandatory renewable energy target (RET) of 20 per cent.

Being part of a major global developer of renewable energy projects with significant Australian projects proposed and under development, EPURON believes the rapid adoption and implementation of the legislation will substantially enhance the nation's renewable energy sector.

"While we still need to see some of the detail of this legislation, we believe this could be a critical step to the long-term development of the Australian renewable energy sector," Martin Poole, Executive Director of EPURON said.

"Companies like ours have waited years for the implementation of a strong national renewable energy target - particularly in its potential to bring down the wholesale electricity price in Australia, ease the carbon cost burden on industry, and stimulate certainty for investors in large scale renewable energy projects."

It is also predicted that a RET of 20 per cent will deliver very significant investment into the renewable energy sector and prompt immediate emissions cuts.

"We believe a solid target of 20 per cent, as promised by the Rudd Government can and will provide legislative certainty, and the necessary stimulus for rapid investment."

Mr Poole concluded: "While we need to be clearer in the detail, we are hopeful that this is the basis of new legislation that provides our industry with the certainty we need to start making large investments in new, clean power generation capacity around Australia."

Ends

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Background

EPURON has received planning approvals for three projects in NSW to date: Snowy Plains (30 Megawatts, near Berridale), Cullerin Range (30 Megawatts, near Goulburn) and Conroy's Gap (30 Megawatts, near Yass). These three projects were sold to Origin Energy in January 2008. The Cullerin Range wind farm is now under construction. EPURON is currently developing the Gullen Range Wind Farm near Goulburn and, in partnership with Macquarie Capital, the Silverton Wind Farm near Broken Hill.

About EPURON

EPURON Pty Ltd is based in North Sydney and has been exploring and developing wind resources in NSW since 2002. It is a subsidiary of EPURON GmbH, one of the world's leading project development and structured financing companies in the renewable energy sector. The company develops, finances, implements and operates wind farms, solar thermal power stations as well as biogas and bio-ethanol plants.

Since its foundation in 1998, EPURON has financed and implemented over 60 large scale projects with a total capital cost of over 550 million euros. Its clients include institutional and private investors from many countries.

EPURON has subsidiaries or offices in Australia, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, South Korea, India, Singapore and the USA. EPURON is a part of the listed company Conergy AG, a world leading company in wind, solar and other renewable power systems.