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$350m financing for green power hub in regional Victoria completed
Baker McKenzie has advised on the $350 million financing of an integrated wind farm and Tesla battery storage facility located in regional Victoria.
Jerome Doraisamy
Firm: Baker McKenzie (Neoen)
It will be Neoen’s largest single-stage project in Australia.
Value: $350 million.
Area: Banking and Finance, Renewable Energy.
Key players: Bakers head of banking and finance Sean Rush was the lead partner on the transaction and was assisted by Bakers Asia-Pacific head of renewable energy Paul Curnow and Bakers banking and finance special counsel David Cooper.
In addition, other members of the firm’s renewable energy team provided assistance, including Mike Webb, Dan Middleton, Leanne Olden, Robyn Farrell, Simon Ni, Luis Grech, Miles Hurst, Aylin Cunsolo, Jennifer Hughes, Dora Stilianos, Teresa Ientile, Zoe Hilson and Kate Phillips.
Deal significance: The $350 million project cost will be funded from a combination of equity and long-term project financing from KfW IPEX-Bank, Societe Generale and Korea Development Bank.
In addition, the project will be “100 per cent reliable renewable energy to what will be the largest greenhouse in Australia”, to be built by Nectar Farms.
“We are incredibly proud to support another groundbreaking renewable energy project with market leading facets such as battery storage, a corporate PPA, long-term financing backed by a long-term hedge, the first agribusiness partnership of its kind in the world and long-term O&M arrangements,” said Mr Rush.
Mr Curnow noted, “We are pleased to support another Neoen project delivering affordable, secure and clean energy to Australia.
“We have delivered the majority of the renewable energy projects in the market over the past 10 years and that transaction experience came through on this deal.”
Mr Cooper added that he was incredibly proud of the team, as it represents another in a string of significant project financings the firm had delivered to financial close.
“The project involved an innovative financing package with long-term debt and hedging, a debt service reserve facility, as well as a long-term PPA with the Victorian government under the VRET model and a corporate PPA where BGPH will supply power to Nectar Farms’ nearby glasshouse facility,” Mr Cooper said.
"The project financing was completed in six weeks from the time of the bank appointment, which could only have been done with the expertise and bench strength of the team, combined with the sophistication of the financiers, the extensive renewables experience of Yuriy Davidov and the Elgar Middleton infrastructure and energy finance team and the market-leading expertise of the Neoen team.”
Construction is slated to start in April, and the wind farm is expected for delivery in August of next year.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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