Eiszele leads power listing

AUSTRALIA’S first listed carbon trading company could come out of WA, as GRD subsidiary Global Carbon advances plans for a fourth quarter float.

Global Carbon chief executive officer Andrew Bantock said the company had started on an IPO prospectus to raise $5 million and had engaged sponsoring broker Paterson Ord Minnett.

The company has also recently secured the services of former Western Power managing director David Eiszele as chairman and is “in discussions” with two other directors to form a board of four with Mr Bantock and Mr Eiszele.

Mr Eiszele was a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and as a Business Council of Australia member was deputy chair of the Greenhouse and Energy Taskforce.

His appointment follows Global Carbon’s successful forward facilitation of emission reduction unit (ERU) trade between GRD subsidiary Global Renewables and BP Australia.

Global Renewables will also use Global Carbon services to sell all future ERUs from its Eastern Creek Sydney waste management facility.

Global Carbon is not restricting itself to carbon trading, and has identified an opportunity to simultaneously obtain a cash benefit from inflated power prices in the large US market.

In association with US landfill operation specialists Golder Associates, Global Carbon has plans to roll out six US sites using landfill to generate ‘green’ power by the end of next year.

“We have eight to 10 projects competing to be the first,” Mr Bantock said.

This venture is calculated to bring in significant cashflow in addition to ERUs for trade.

Global Carbon is aiming for exclusive five-year options with landfill owners to develop sites and has modelled a scenario which could deliver the company an estimated A$74.7 million net cash flow from 18 sites by 2008.

These projects will also deliver benefits to GRD subsidiaries Global Renewables and GRD Minproc by utilising Global Renewables waste technology, and the engineering and emissions verification capabilities of GRD Minproc.

Global Carbon is assessing opportunities for similar projects in South Africa, Brazil, Chile and South Korea, and is talking with Golder regarding potential Australian relationships.

Mr Bantock said the IPO would set the scene for a single focus for Global Carbon, delivering a separate profile within the green and ethical investor market.

The Global Carbon move follows corporate and government carbon management activity such as BP’s Global Choice program and the NSW Government quota and tax scheme for energy retailers.