Barnaby Joyce is taking credit for the Sapphire wind farm with one hand and slapping down the very policy that made it possible with the other, the Greens say.
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Mr Joyce called the ACT government’s plan to be 100 per cent renewable “crazy” and “completely insane”.
However, NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham said the massive wind farm in the heart of Mr Joyce's electorate, in between Glen Innes and Inverell, was underpinned by a 20-year supply agreement with the ACT government.
“It would not be going ahead without the very policy,” Mr Buckingham said.
“He knows full well it is delivering clean energy jobs and billions of dollars of development in his electorate.”
The Leader approached Mr Joyce, however his spokesman said it was “not appropriate for the Member for New England to comment on the commercial decisions of private companies within his electorate”.
In March 2016, Sapphire Wind Farm won a 20 year contract to supply 100MW of energy to the ACT through a wind energy auction designed to meet the capital’s energy target of 100 per cent renewables by 2020.
At the time, The Leader reported CWP Renewables managing director Alex Hewitt said the auction result had allowed the company to commencement construction of what would be the largest wind farm in NSW.