The Prime Minister's Australian Exporter of the Year National Award Ceremony took place in Canberra on 20 November. Windlab Systems were a finalist in the Emerging Exporter Category.

The Australian Export Awards is a national program that recognises and honours exporters who have achieved sustainable export growth through innovation and commitment.

The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) partner the presentation of this national program, which, in its 47th year is historically one of the longest running business awards programs in Australia.

The program is made possible through the collaboration of all the States and Territories, who each independently run their export awards programs. The winners from these eight programs progress as national finalists to the Australian Export Awards. Entering at the State and Territory level is the only way of becoming a national finalist with the possibility of winning a national Award or the highly prestigious Prime Minister's Australian Exporter of the Year Award.

The cateogry was won by Noja Switch Power from Queensland. Congratulations!

Windlab Systems Chairman, Roger Price was featured this week on SkyNews. You can view the interview here

Windlab Systems has made the BRW 2009 Fast 100 list for the second year running. In 2008 Windlab came in at number 57.

This year the team has climbed sixteen places to be placed @ number 41 on the list. Windlab recorded revenue of A$4.02M up 68.29% Year over Year. To appear on the list companies must have achieved an average annual growth rate to June 2009 of over 37% (down from 44% growth in 2008).

The ACT Chief Ministers Emerging Exporter Award was given to Windlab Systems. Windlab Systems, a global wind energy development company. Their track record in progressing commercially viable sites is reflected in a growing portfolio spanning Canada, USA, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Yesterday, Mark Sinclair CEO of Windlab Systems, was featured on Lateline Business on the ABC. You can view the video or read the transcript of the interview here.

Today we are announcing a very significant investment in Windlab Systems by Lend Lease Ventures. The full text of the media release is below:

Wind energy company Windlab Systems said today a capital investment from one of Australia's leading companies is a huge vote of confidence in its ability to deliver world-class wind energy projects globally.

Windlab – which uses proprietary technology to identify, secure and develop commercially viable sites for wind farm projects – has secured a $10 million investment led by Lend Lease's venture capital arm, Lend Lease Ventures, and supported by existing shareholders including Sydney based Innovation Capital and Canberra based Blue Cove Ventures to assist in expanding its operations ahead of a planned IPO in 2011.

"Lend Lease is a recognised leader in sustainable buildings and urban regeneration projects and to have secured their support is a terrific endorsement of the progress we have made as well as an acknowledgement of the importance of our unique technology to the renewable energy sector," Windlab chief executive Mark Sinclair said. "Wind energy generation is a well proven, mature technology and the most viable of the current renewable energy technologies.

"Along with the pressures of climate change, we are faced with a rapidly increasing appetite for energy and a dwindling supply of non-renewable energy resources, making the rapid expansion in the uptake of wind energy not only urgent but also a compelling case, not just in Australia, but across the globe.

"We are proud to have the support of a world-class company that recognises the importance of sustainable solutions as well as an environmentally responsible approach to business." Windlab, which was spun out from CSIRO's Atmospheric Research Unit, uses world-leading windmapping technology to accurately, and remotely, locate and validate prospective sites for wind farms.

"The major competitive advantage of our technology is that it takes the guesswork out of identifying the best sites at which to develop vital wind energy projects acceptable to local communities, even before the first visits to those sites to determine their viability," Mr Sinclair added. "Using the technology, we can source the best possible project opportunities, with the lowest community impact, the lowest project risks, and work with all our stakeholders to develop world class wind generation facilities."

Windlab's current portfolio of projects is in excess of 5,000MW under active development across Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and North America which, when fully developed would supply the demand for the equivalent of more than two million average households.

"We have been very impressed with Windlab's business model and believe it is very well positioned for continued success in the development of significant wind energy projects, both in its home and offshore markets," Lend Lease Ventures' CEO Anthony Pascoe said.

"Further, we believe that we will be able to bring considerable value to the table as a strategic investor in Windlab, particularly given the Lend Lease group's global reach and well-recognised development experience. "Lend Lease is committed to delivering best practice environmentally sustainable solutions and our venture capital activities help the wider group keep at the leading edge of the curve in this regard."

Jan Bingley, general manager of IP and Licensing at the CSIRO, said Windlab's pioneering work was testament to the world-leading standards of Australia's scientific research community. "Windlab is a great example of how an Australian company can be a thought leader on the world stage at this critical time and in the face of such urgent challenges as addressing energy needs," Ms Bingley said. "It is also an excellent example of the CSIRO's ability to develop great science and convert the outcomes of that science into commercial ventures."

About Windlab Systems Windlab Systems is a global wind energy development company which was established in 2003, the result of a major research program at Australia's pre-eminent research organisation CSIRO. Today, it is a multinational wind developer with a growing portfolio of projects at various stages of development in the USA, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. Windlab led the development of the Australian Renewable Energy (Wind) Atlas, on behalf of the Commonwealth Government's Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, and its management team comprises individuals who have been instrumental in shaping the early stages of the modern wind energy industry over the past 13 years.

About Lend Lease Ventures Lend Lease Ventures ('LLV') is the venture capital arm of Lend Lease Corporation (ASX:LLC). LLV has a mandate to invest in emerging technologies and companies relevant to the group's wider sphere of competencies in property development, investment and construction, and has a particular focus on the cleantech sector. Investments to date include businesses which operate in the renewable energy space, a commercial scale water treatment solutions provider and a low carbon building systems business. Lend Lease Ventures will typically seek to invest at the expansion capital stage, where entities are seeking funds to commercialise proven products and services. In these instances, the global Lend Lease business is able to act as a commercialisation partner.

Mark Sinclair is available for comment Media Contact: Simon Mossman, Wilkinson PR, 0414 472 585 or 03 9626 2433 For Lend Lease Ventures enquiries, contact: Rachel Mornington-West, on 02 9277 2525

The Global Wind Energy Report for 2008 has been published. It makes interesting reading! The highlights are below:

• The wind industry globally now employs about 400,000 people (this includes 85,000 in the US and 100,000 in Germany). In the US, wind (85,000 people) now is a larger employer than coal (81,000)
• Wind power is on track to supply 10-12% of global electricity by 2020, which would save about 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2. [remember, 10-12% might not sound like a lot, but we're only talking about wind here and this is before the inevitable global Energy [R]evolution! About US$50 billion of new wind energy equipment was installed globally last year
• The amount of wind power installed in 2008 (globally) increased by 28.8%, going from about 93 Gigawatts* (GW) to 120.8 GW in the last year. This is forecast to increase to 332 GW by 2013
• The amount of electricity actually produced by wind power was 260 Terrawatt-hours, which is about the same as Australia's total electricity demand. So now there's enough wind power being created each year to power Australia! We just need more of the turbines built here!
• Even though the global financial crisis is a threat, the two largest markets for wind energy (the US and China) are still secure. Growth in the US is expected to slow in 2009 but quickly recover and China is not expected to experience much change from expected growth in wind
• The US is the new world leader in wind energy, installing 8.4 GW last year to a total of 25.2 GW. That means they have added 50% more wind power in the last year - that's one impressive supersize! Assuming that the average turbine is 1.5 MW, that means they're putting up a new wind turbine every 90 minutes! Wind made up 42% of the new power generation capacity added in the US in 2008. Washington State, which has a population of about 6 1/2 million people now has more wind energy installed than Australia
• Germany is now the country with the second most wind installed (23.9 GW) and Spain is in third (16.7 GW). Wind power now provides 7.5% of Germany's electricity consumption and 11% of Spain's
• Even though China is has the fourth largest amount of wind installed (12.2 GW), more than half of this went up in the last year. In fact, the amount of wind energy in China has roughly doubled every year for the past 5 years and this is expected to continue, global financial crisis or no global financial crisis. At the moment, China is building a new wind turbine every 2 hours and is gathering pace at a breathtaking rate. China has set a target of having 30 GW installed by 2020 but if the market keeps growing as it is, this target could be met ten years early!
• Our Energy [R]evolution report had Australia's wind energy increasing by 4 GW over the next 11 years. Some Chinese wind energy companies are churning out that much capacity every year!
• Australia has been reported as "back on the radar" in this report. Even though the report makes several welcome swipes at Australia's "very disappointing" targets on climate change, it is important to mention that Australia has finally seen some movement on wind power in the last year. Australia added about 0.5 GW of new wind energy to reach 1.3 GW in total. It's the most wind energy to come online in a single year here and we're forecast to add another 0.6 GW in 2009

*What's a Gigawatt? It's about the same electricity capacity as a medium sized coal-fired power station and for wind, about enough energy to power about 300,000 Australian homes.

Our good friends at the Lighthouse Innovation Centre are running a fire-side chat titled "Climate in a Cold Financial Crisis". This event provides an informed and provocative conversation on Australia's sustainable future and both the opportunities and challenges faced by the education, science and business communities in assuring it.

Cindy Reese the Business Development Manager for Lighthouse has brought together an all-star cast. Ian Kiernan AO, Founder of CleanUp Australia, and ANU Chancellor, Professor the Honourable Kim Beazley AC (pictured below) will headline this event. Our very own Mark Sinclair CEO Windlab Systems will act as moderator.

The event is on Thursday May 28, 2008 from 4pm-6:30pm including a networking reception following the event. Tickets cost $44 (Concession $36.00). You can get more information from the Lighthouse Business Innovation Centre website. Tickets are available online here.

Windlab Systems has been profiled on the start-up site run by Vishal Sharma.

This site provides coverage on new technology trends and profiles interesting Australian startups. The site focusses on organisations in the IT (Enterprise, Product, Open source, SAAS,Cloud Computing, eCommerce), Telecom (Mobile, OSS/BSS), Media (News, Social Networking), Marketing/Branding, Green Tech (Sustainability, Carbon trading) sectors. Worth a read!

Click here for Windlab Systems new and improved website.

I missed this news when it came out at the end of last year. AGL Energy Limited (AGL) announced on 9th December 2008 that it has acquired two wind farm development projects from Investec Wind Holdings Pty Ltd (Investec).

Under the agreement, AGL will acquire two of Investec's development projects in Queensland and Victoria for $14 million.

AGL Managing Director Michael Fraser said the transaction was consistent with AGL's strategy of developing a diverse pipeline of renewable projects to meet its long-term obligations under the expanded Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme.

"There is going to be high demand for projects to meet the Federal government's expanded Renewable Energy Target and this transaction is consistent with our strategy of acquiring a pipeline of projects that will be at the bottom end of the cost curve and benefit from future uplifts in pricing," Mr Fraser added.

The projects, Oaklands Hill in Victoria and Coopers Gap in Queensland were originally identified, secured and validated by Windlab Systems. This announcement is an important milestone in the validation of the Windlabs model.

The full release can be found here here.