Origin and ACCIONA today announced a long-term power purchase agreement in which Origin will be supplied the renewable energy generated by ACCIONA's Gunning Wind Farm.

Located in close proximity to Origin's own Cullerin Range Wind Farm, the 46.5 MW Gunning Wind Farm was recently completed by ACCIONA, a global leader in the renewable energy sector, and commenced generating renewable energy in April 2011.

Origin Chief Executive Officer, Energy Markets, Frank Calabria said the agreement with ACCIONA would contribute towards Origin meeting its obligations under the Federal Government's Large Scale Renewable Energy Target.

"As an investor in the renewable energy industry, this agreement demonstrates Origin's ongoing commitment to supporting a broad range of renewable energy sources and options to reach our renewable energy target while also helping to meet customer demand for GreenPower," said Mr Calabria.

As the leading Australian integrated energy company, Origin has a large portfolio of diversified renewable energy opportunities, including geothermal, hydro, solar and wind, and holds a leadership position in the green energy market, with more than 554,000 green energy customers.

Under the terms of the agreement with ACCIONA, Origin will be supplied with Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) from 1 January 2012 for two years, then both green power and LGCs for 8 years, with options to extend.

Today's announcement follows a similar power purchase agreement between Origin and ACCIONA in 2008 when Origin acquired the offtake from Waubra Wind Farm in Victoria.

ACCIONA Energy Director, Generation, Brett Wickham said the Gunning Wind Farm was expected to generate enough green energy to meet the electricity needs of approximately 23,250 households each year while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 162,750 tonnes annually.

Mr Wickham said, "ACCIONA is committed to renewable energy as part of a sustainable future for Australia. Our agreement with Origin will help Australia meet its growing energy needs and reduce greenhouse emissions."

Gunning Wind Farm is 15 kilometres north-east of Gunning and 70 kilometres north-east of Canberra. Consisting of 31 ACCIONA Windpower 1.5 MW turbines, the wind farm is expected to generate 140-150 GWh of power each year.

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