Mixed Greens: Holden mulls production of e-Commodore

GM Holden is considering plans to assemble a batch of 126 electric Holden vehicles at its Adelaide factory, as part of a plan that could lead to mass production of the vehicle.

The Australian Financial Review on Tuesday said the production of 120 e-Commodores and six left-hand-drive e-Caprices were being negotiation in a $70 million deal between GMH, the Federal Government and EV Engineering, a consortium including GE Custom Fleet, car parts makers Robert Bosch, Air International, Continental, Futuris, as well as infrastructure group Better Place.

EV Engineering is chaired by former Mitsubishi chief Rob McEniry, and made seven prototype e-Commodores earlier this year. According to the AFR, the plan would deliver what is thought to be the biggest run of large electric cars ever made, and could also include an electric version of the Cruze.

The AFR said that under the EV Engineering proposal, the second batch of e-Commodores would be allocated to Australian fleet customers while the six Caprices would be configured as taxis and road tested in San Francisco. GMH already exports the Caprice to the US as a police vehicle. A GMH spokeswoman told the AFR that the car maker was supportive of EV Engineering and, while making no ongoing commitment, was interested in examining the latest electric car proposal.

In other news ….

AGL Energy and Meridian Energy say the first turbines have started turning and generating renewable energy at the Macarthur Wind Farm in South Western Victoria. The facility, which will total 420MW by the time of its completion next year, has been under construction for nearly two years. All 140 wind turbines are expected to be operational in early 2013.

Warren Buffett has increased his investment in clean energy with his utility group MidAmerican Energy Holdings agreeing to buy 300MW of capacity at the Alta Wind complex in California. Other investors in the project include Google and Citigroup. MidAmerican Renewables division will buy the 168MW Alta Wind VII and 132MW Alta Wind IX projects from Terra-Gen Power. MidAmerican says the purchase take its investment to more than 1,250MW of renewable energy assets.

Meanwhile, another high profile, billionair green energy investor, Ted Turner, has teamed up with Southern Company to buy the 30MW Spectrum Solar Project in California. Construction of the project is expected to start this month and will be completed by June next year. SunEdison is developing the plant.

Elsewhere, Martifer Solar said it has completed two PV projects worth 22.4MW in Portugal, Solectria Renewables has been elected for a 5MW solar farm in Massachusetts, Kyocera Solar has been chosen to supply 30MW of solar modules to a power plant in Japan, and  EDP Renováveis has begun construction of a 39MW solar plant in Romania.