Login
Largest solar farm reaches financial close
King & Wood Mallesons has advised financiers to bring Australia’s largest solar farm to financial close.
Tony Zhang
Firms: King & Wood Mallesons (financiers: Natixis, Société Générale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, MUFG Bank, NORD/LB, HSBC and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.)
Value: Undisclosed.
Area: Energy and resources.
Key players: The KWM team acting on the transaction was led by partner Chris Dynon, who was supported by senior associates Madeleine Coates, Josh Thorneycroft and Kathryn Tomasic, and solicitors Shubho Mukherjee, Louise Yun and Sam Hill.
Deal significance: Upon completion, the 460-MWDC utility-scale solar farm will be the largest solar farm in Australia with the capacity to power 235,000 Queensland homes. The financiers were Natixis, Société Générale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, MUFG Bank, NORD/LB, HSBC and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Backed by the Queensland government, Neoen has reached an agreement to sell 80 per cent of the project’s output to state government-owned renewable energy generator, CleanCo. The agreement will assist the state in achieving its 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030 and aligns with the government’s COVID-19 recovery plan, that focuses on investment in capital projects.
“We are delighted to have worked with the financiers and other stakeholders in this project to reach this significant milestone,” Mr Dynon said.
“The Western Downs Solar Farm will create jobs and increase renewable energy output in Queensland at a time when investment in projects such as this will have a tremendous impact on our recovering economies.”
The solar farm is expected to begin generating electricity in the first quarter of 2022.
