Another major financing deal has been landed for Australian renewable energy developments, lifting hopes that the investment drought that has plagued wind developments and stalled other projects is fading into the background.
Potentia Energy – a joint venture between Italy’s Enel Green Power and Japan’s Inpex – announced on Thursday that it had secured $830 million in debt finance to cover more than 600 megawatts of mostly existing and one new wind, solar and solar-battery hybrid assets.
It comes a week after Andrew Forrest’s Squadron Energy locked in $1 billion in debt finance to support the second stage of its huge Clarke Creek wind farm in Queensland, and TagEnergy secured finance for its new 150 MW, 600 MWh Golden Plains battery project that is also about to start construction.
Potentia says its finance package will support its existing assets and the delivery of new projects, particularly the first solar-battery hybrid project on the National Electricity Market that is nearing completion at Quorn Park in western NSW.
But the financing package also puts the company in good position to land finance for future projects, such as the much bigger Tallawang solar battery hybrid – comprising 500 MW of solar and 500 MW, 1,000 MWh of battery storage – in the Central West Orana renewable energy zone.
The other assets included in the new financing package include the Royalla solar farm – the first utility scale PV project built in the NEM – along with the Bungala solar farms in South Australia, the Cohuna and Gilgarre solar farms in Victoria, and the Flat Rocks wind project in Western Australia.
The company says the financing deal is a strong vote of confidence in the company’s strategy, track
record and disciplined approach to investment.
“The financing marks a significant milestone in the company’s evolution following its rebranding and transition to a dedicated, locally focused Australian clean energy platform,” it said in a statement.
The debt is being provided by a group of seven major Australian and international lenders including Australia’s Westpac, along with the Bank of China, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Mizuho Bank, Societe Generale, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Citi acted as financial advisor on the transaction, Allens as legal advisor for Potentia Energy and Ashurst as legal advisor for the lenders.
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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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