Investment firm Babcock & Brown says it is in dispute with a bank which holds a deposit of a material amount relating to the release of that deposit. Babcock requested a trading halt in its shares today, saying it expected the halt to remain until the dispute was resolved. The owner of wind farms and properties has lost 99% of its market value this year as it struggles to sell assets to repay $3.1 billion in loans.

Babcock & Brown Ltd (B&B)has sold wind farm assets held by B&B Wind Partners in Portugal for $2.23 billion. The assets were sold to a consortium of investors led by Magnum Capital. B&B said it would earn $285.82 million in net proceeds from the sale of its 50% share of the portfolio. This represents a price above book value and will be used to pay down project debt secured against European wind assets, it added.

In an interview with The Australian in Canberra yesterday, Mr Garrett [the Environment Minister] said he was worried by the number of wind farm proposals that had been refused because of objections by the local community. "Australians have got to realise the time has come to embrace wind and wind farms in appropriate locations, bearing in mind they are going to be visible on the landscape -- that a 'not in my back yard' kind of mentality won't see us rolling out the deployment of wind that we need," Mr Garrett said.

A proposal to build a $180 million wind farm along the hill ridges at Waterloo has been dusted off after sitting on the shelf for the past three years. Initially proposed by Hydro Tasmania, now Roaring40s, the 39-turbine wind farm got the official nod of approval from local councils in 2005. Roaring40s public relations and communications manager Josh Bradshaw visited the region last week and spoke to Clare and Gilbert Valleys and Goyder councils about the project and plans to expand on the original development, to include turbines at Stony Gap and Robertstown.

The Merredin Shire last week approved the construction of a wind farm by joint venturers Collgar Wind Farm and the CSIRO backed Windlab Systems. Investec Bank (Australia) Limited will fund and develop the $600 million project, which will comprise of 127 wind turbines capable of generating up to 267 megawatts of power, enough to power about 160,000 homes a year. Investec project manager Mark Headland said there were excellent opportunities for local business involvement during the wind farm's construction phase.

A shire media release said Ross Richards told them that the proposed Tuki Wind Farm was temporarily on hold because of "the price of carbon, the emissions trading scheme details and the nature of the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target". Mr Richards said that if the proposal went ahead a planning application would be lodged in the first half of next year. The meeting also brought up a difference of opinion over significant landscape overlays.

Permission to build four more turbines - a mere four of at least 38 extra Motorimu wanted - has been hailed as a victory by opponents of the wind farm and they say there are ramifications for other planned farms like Turitea. ..."There were huge resources against us," Millricks Line resident Alison Mildon said, but the fight had to be fought. "There are adverse effects, it is not a benign industry," she said.

In an Environment Court decision released this week, Judge Brian Dwyer and two commissioners ruled a total of 80 turbines could be built on the Tararua Ranges around Tokomaru. The site crosses the Palmerston North and Horowhenua boundaries. Last year, the court consented 75 turbines, but turned down 52. Motorimu appealed the decision, arguing at least 38 extra turbines were essential to the viability of the project.

Merredin Shire Council has approved the construction of a wind farm by joint venturers Collgar Wind Farm and the CSIRO backed Windlab Systems. Investec Bank (Australia) Ltd will fund and develop the $600 million project, comprising 127 wind turbines capable of annually generating up to 900,000 megawatt hours of electricity ... The project's construction team is planning a forum in Merredin for local sub-contractors to register their interest in the project, probably in mid-October.

Soaring world demand for steel could more than double the cost of building wind farm towers in Portland next year. Forecast rises for Australian steel would mean a $70 million bill for Portland-based Keppel Prince Engineering. Flat plate steel which cost $1200 a tonne early this year is tipped to hit $2800 a tonne in 2009.

Trustpower's bid to develop a multi million-dollar wind farm, at Kaiwera Downs near Mataura, appears destined for the Environment Court. Gore district planning consultant Keith Hovell said a pre-hearing, in Dunedin on Thursday, saw the Uplands Landscape Protection Society win the right to continue with its appeal, as it was lodged, against resource consents for the wind farm. The hearing would not be held until April 2009, at the earliest, he said.

TrustPower yesterday "put on hold" its earlier application to strike out part of an appeal by the Upland Landscape Protection Society against a proposed $400 million wind farm at Kaiwera Downs, near Gore. During a preliminary hearing in the Environment Court at Dunedin, TrustPower initially sought to strike out part of a wide-ranging appeal by the society against a consent granted to the energy firm's wind farm in June. The Gore District Council and Southland Regional Council are respondents in the case.

RES Australia has revised its plan for the number of turbines to be constructed as part of the proposed Ararat Wind Farm, determining that the site has the potential for 76 wind turbines. ..."We previously advised that the scope of the project would be approximately 50 wind turbines,'' RES Australia Developer Sedat Erol said. "Through further engineering, planning and environmental assessments it has been determined that the site has potential for further generation capacity.

A "dangerous" discussion that verged on perverting the course of justice was silenced by mayor Maureen Reynolds at a Tararua District council meeting yesterday. In a highly unusual move, Mrs Reynolds let two Waitahora wind farm opponents sitting at the back of the meeting ask questions during council discussion. But when the talk threatened to infringe on the future impartiality of councillors, she was forced to clamp down on the session.

Plans have been unveiled to create one of the largest wind farms in Australia at a cost of more than $200 million on the scenic outskirts of Orange. The Central Western Daily has revealed the details of a proposal by investment bank Babcock and Brown to build at least 40 turbines to the south of the city near Forest Reefs. ... A year of data testing is now under way, with three specially constructed 80 metre high mast towers designed to measure wind speeds now in place at the peak of the area's ridge line.

Ewan Carr Another round of court action is being considered by one of the groups fighting to prevent wind turbines from sprouting on Otago and Southland hills. The Upland Landscape Protection Society learned this week that the High Court had struck out its bid for a judicial review of resource management processes used for Meridian Energy's Project Hayes and TrustPower's Mahinerangi Wind Farm. Society spokesman Ewan Carr told the Otago Daily Times yesterday the society's executive would meet sometime in the next week to decide if an appeal would be lodged. The society had sought the judicial review claiming errors by the three local authorities that approved the wind farms - the Central Otago and Clutha District Councils and the Otago Regional Council.

The Mt Gellibrand wind farm near Birregurra was to be the largest in Victoria producing enough energy from its 116 turbines to supply 132,000 homes. But more than 18 months after work on the project was due to start the only sign of the project is a large wind testing pole in a paddock. The rights to the project have been sold and re-sold but nothing has happened. Some local landholders say they have heard nothing about the project for 12 months.

Babcock & Brown is unlikely to sell any of its wind farms before October or November as it seeks to avoid a fire sale of assets. The company remains under pressure to reduce its $3.6 billion of corporate debt, but selling the wind assets is taking longer than expected because of complications in the sale process. Any sale announcement is not expected before well into the last quarter of this year. ...B&B's stock dived 20 per cent over a two-day period last week as investors, wary about its immediate prospects, sold out.

A protest to stop the proposed Contact Energy wind farm on the Puketoi ranges is fast gathering power. A group of locals dead-set against the $500 million wind farm on the ranges east of Pahiatua are demanding the Tararua District council take their objections seriously. They want an open forum held to discuss wind farms, and are challenging claims that farms will bring local benefits.

The Palmerston North City Council has unanimously agreed to oppose a ministerial call-in for the Turitea Wind Farm. Last night, an extraordinary meeting was held for council to decide how to respond to a letter from Environment Minister Trevor Mallard, asking its opinion on Mighty River Power's (MRP) request to have the resource consent application for the proposed wind farm "called in". About 60 people attended and each councillor told of their concerns over ministerial intervention. Only Cr Jan Barnett didn't speak.