The Sydney-based company launched its prospectus on July 4 and flagged August 10 as the date for listing on the Australian Stock Exchange, but its timelines blew out as investors shied away from risk. Having now completed its fund raising, however, it will likely list in early September.

"Given the current market conditions, we have had outstanding support from the public. Upon allotment, we will have over 1,000 shareholders on the share register, which is an excellent outcome," said managing director Richard Pritchard.

Wind Hydrogen has a portfolio of wind farms in various stages of development in Australia and the UK, and also holds international patent rights over hydrogen-based technology that it expects will overcome the issue of variable output from wind farms.

Pritchard told PNN's sister publication EnvironmentalManagementNews.net that he was not concerned about AGL's recent decision to pull out of a proposed $140 million wind energy project in Victoria's Gippsland region.

He said the fact AGL pursued the project so far when its proximity to local residents was always going to create planning issues shows the project's economics must have stacked up very well.

"Every wind farm has its own economics and its own issues…that's wind farming, it's a risky business," he said.

Meanwhile, the Queensland Government is also looking to bale out of wind farming, putting all the state-owned wind assets up as one package for sale through a competitive bid process.

Assets up for grabs include operating wind farms owned by Stanwell Corporation and Tarong, as well as other projects in Stanwell's development pipeline, its wind data base and all associated intellectual property.

Initial bids are due late September, with binding bids from the shortlisted tenderers due by mid-November.

EnvironmentalManagementNews.net