Pacific Road director Peter Nolan is reported as saying in Wellington yesterday that the planned sale by United States firm NRG Energy of its interests in two power plants - the Flinders coal-fired plant in South Australia and Gladstone plant in Queensland - represented further investment opportunities for Kiwi companies.

Nolan believed there were a lot of opportunities for New Zealand companies as there was not a lot of competition for the power plants US companies were now selling in Australia.

Fellow PRCF director Michael Coffey is reported to have said that a lack of experience of some Kiwi companies in running coal-fired stations was not a barrier, as experienced teams already ran the plants and skills in electricity wholesaling and trading were just as important.

There were also opportunities to build gas-fired peaking stations across the Tasman as big Australian electricity retailers were considering as insurance against peak prices, which was one of the main risks faced by Australian retailers. Also, opportunities for wind power were increasing under Australia's renewable energy policy, which required electricity retailers to buy a percentage of renewable energy.

Meridian Energy, owned by the New Zealand government, is the biggest investor so far in the Australian generation market. Last March it paid United States' Alliant Energy about $A585 million for an investment in Victoria's 10-station 540MW Southern Hydro scheme, which operates primarily for peak power periods.

Other New Zealand companies already involved in Australia include New Plymouth-headquartered energy distributor Powerco, which has been awarded an $A34 million contract by the Tasmanian State government to build, own and operate a gas distribution network in Tasmania.