Australia’s biggest solar farm trebles profits despite grid outages

The first stage of Australia’s biggest solar project has trebled profits in the past year as it ramped up towards full capacity, despite restrictions on its output from grid outages in October.

The New England solar farm, near Uralla in northern NSW, is currently rated at 400 megawatts (MW) but will grow to a country-leading 720 MW when the second state of the project is completed by its owners Acen Renewables in coming years.

The Philippines-based Acen last week unveiled its full year profits for 2024, which illustrated the growing importance of its Australian renewable and storage pipeline to its business.

The New England solar farm is the company’s first major operating asset in Australia, but the company is also nearing completion of the 400 MW Stubbo solar farm in the central west of NSW, which should be in operation later this year, and has also started construction of a big battery at New England that will eventually be sized at 200 MW and 400 MWh.

The company’s 936 MW Valley of the Winds project in NSW has been named as the biggest of the 19 winners of the federal government’s first Capacity Investment Scheme tender for new wind and solar, and it has also won a NSW long duration storage underwriting agreement for the Phoenix pumped hydro project.

The company also wants to build the hotly contested Robbin Island wind project in Tasmania.

Acen’s annual results presentation show that the New England solar farm ramped up production to a total of 784 megawatt hours in 2024, up from 521 MWh in 2023, when it started production and was steadily working through the full commissioning process.

Acen says production would have been higher were it not for unspecified “grid outages” that affected output in October, 2024. Nevertheless, revenue – driven by the higher output and a jump in wholesale prices – rose to 2.4 billion Philippine pesos ($A66 million) from PP829 million in 2023, and earnings to PP1.88 billion from PP558 million.

It says it expects further growth in output, revenue and profits in 2025 with the completion of the Stubbo solar project, which the report says is 91 per cent complete. Australia accounts for around 25 per cent of the group’s capacity, including projects committed and in construction.

Renew Economy reached out to Acen to get access to the recording of the presentation to analysts and investors, but did not hear back. In a brief statement issued with the results, the company said:

“Acen continues to progress toward our goals, notwithstanding the global headwinds impacting the energy transition. The company remains committed to scale up renewables in the Philippines and around the region,” said Acen president and CEO Eric Francia.

“Acen’s financial results in 2024 demonstrate our ability to convert a robust development pipeline into a renewable energy portfolio which can deliver strong and stable investor returns over the long-term. This focus on execution will remain central as we move forward,” said CFO Jonathan Black.

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