One of the biggest solar and battery projects in the state of Victoria has been sold to a Swedish renewables developer, armed with an underwriting agreement and planning approvals.
The Corop solar and battery farm, located just a few kilometres north-west of Rushworth in central Victoria, has been sold by Leeson Group and BNRG Renewables to the Stockholm-based OX2, which has been building up its portfolio of assets in Australia.
The Corop project is set to be sized at 290 megawatts (MW) of solar with a 290 MW, 704 MWh battery, spread across more than 1,000 hectares.
It was announced as a winner of round 4 of the federal government’s Capacity Investment Scheme in last 2025, which will offer an underwriting agreement that is designed to protect such projects from sharp falls in wholesale electricity prices and make finance easier to obtain.
Leeson Group founder and CEO Peter Leeson says he began developing the Corop site in 2019, and brought in the Dublin-based BNRG Renewables as co-developer and equity partner in 2024.
“We’ve had extraordinary support from the local community throughout this journey,” Leeson said in a statement.
“By working with our existing network and the new relationships we’ve built around Rushworth, the team has achieved incredible outcomes. We are thrilled with the engagement to date and look forward to seeing OX2 build and operate this project for the region.”
Solar-battery hybrids have become the go-to technology in Australia, because of their competitive costs and relative ease through the planning and approvals process, and because they are usually easier to connect to the existing grid.
Victoria, however, has said it has enough solar and battery hybrids – after seven such projects were awarded contracts in the first two CIS generation tenders, including Corop.
Victoria is looking for more wind projects to be developed. It removed solar and battery hybrids from its allocation in the latest CIS tender, but only saw two wind projects gain contracts. In the latest generation tender it has put a total cap of 400 MW on solar only projects.
Leeson Group has also developed the nearby 93 MW Girgarre solar farm approximately 20 kilometres north of Corop, now owned and operated by Potentia Energy, which reached full commercial operation in 2025.
In a separate statement, OX2 said the Corop project has secured key development approvals, been awarded the CIS contract and is well advanced in the grid connection process. It is expected to begin construction in late 2027.
OX2 is already building the Muswellbrook solar farm and battery in NSW, which reached financial close earlier this year, and last year bought the 1.2 gigawatt Dinner Hill wind project in Western Australia, along with the proposed adjoining 100 MW, 400 MWh Harvest battery.
OX2 is owned by EQT, one of the world’s largest private equity investors.
“The acquisition of Corop is a significant milestone for OX2 in Australia,” says Steve Symons, Vice President, Australia.
“It builds on the momentum we’ve established with Muswellbrook and reinforces our commitment to delivering high-quality, reliable renewable energy projects as part of the country’s energy transition.”
Leeson and BNRG received financial advice on the sale from Sydney-based corporate advisory firm Pottinger.
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Giles Parkinson
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor-in-chief of Renew Economy, and founder and editor of its EV-focused sister site The Driven. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.
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