AGL Energy has announced the sale of its 102MW Nyngan and 53MW Broken Hill solar plants into the Powering Australian Renewables Fund.
The $257 million sale, with approximately nil profit on sale, includes AGL writing a long term offtake agreement with the solar plants.
AGL Managing Director and CEO Andy Vesey said today marked a major milestone in the landmark partnership with equity partner QIC and its clients the Future Fund and the QIC Global Infrastructure Fund.
“We’re very encouraged by the level of interest and calibre of lenders wanting to get involved in the PARF,” Mr Vesey said.
“AGL created the Fund to help kick-start the investment deadlock in renewable projects by providing an innovative financing platform where like-minded organisations can share the investment risk over the medium to longterm.
“The PARF has acquired the Nyngan and Broken Hill solar plants as seed assets ahead of schedule and we’re confident of announcing the first new renewable project build ahead of our original March 2017 target as well.”
It is anticipated AGL’s proposed wind farms in Silverton in New South Wales, and Coopers Gap in Queensland, will be the first two projects offered to the Fund.
On behalf of the PARF, AGL will develop and manage approximately 1000MW of large-scale renewable energy infrastructure assets and projects.
This represents 20 per cent of the estimated 5000MW of new renewable generation capacity required by 2020 to meet the Federal Government’s Renewable Energy Target.
Lenders to the transaction were Westpac, NAB, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFC) and BNP Paribas.