Mathew Dunckley from The Age reports on a new $230 million solar project:
The backers of three large solar farms have locked in the final piece of their funding puzzle after securing debt financing from a group including the federal government and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Local developer Edify Energy and its German investor, Wirsol, will now look to begin work on the farms in Queensland and Victoria and have the first power flowing by early next year.
….The combined project will add 165MW of renewable energy capacity to the national electricity grid by the start of next year and generate enough electricity to power an estimated 87,000 households.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will provide $77 million, taking its total large-scale solar commitments to $281 million across seven projects.
….The lending consortium brings together the CEFC, Commonwealth Bank and Germany’s NORD/LB.
CBA’s managing director and global head of infrastructure, Michael Thorpe, said the bank was proud to support the “landmark” transaction.
“The strong risk profile and expertise of both Edify Energy and Wirsol contribute to excellent project fundamentals of the Whitsunday, Hamilton and Gannawarra solar farms,” he said.
This infrastructure project ticks all the right boxes:
- private-public partnership
- leading international expertise
- renewable energy
- short delivery time
The big question is whether electricity delivery will be at competitive prices.