Australia’s biggest solar farm will help power industrial gas giant in major deal brokered by Zen

Zero emissions gentailer Zen Energy has sealed a three-way deal to help power the east coast operations of industrial gas giant, Boc Australia, with renewable energy contracted from Australia’s biggest solar farm.

The 10-year deal, which Zen describes as one of the biggest multi-state Electricity Retail Agreements (ERA) ever struck in Australia, will replace more than 45 per cent of Boc’s grid power consumption in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria with renewable energy.

The renewable energy will be contracted through a power purchase agreement (PPA) that will see Zen buy roughly 23 per cent of the output from Acen Australia’s 400 megawatts (MW) New England solar farm in NSW.

Stage one of the New England solar farm, near Uralla in northern NSW, is currently rated at 400 MW but will grow to a country-leading 720 MW when the second stage of the project is completed in coming years.

Construction has also started on a big battery at New England that will eventually be sized at 200 MW and 400 MWh.

Acen Australia managing director, David Pollington, says the deal with Zen to supply power to Boc marks another milestone for its New England solar and battery project.

“This offtake with ZEN Energy [enables] us to bring more renewable energy projects to life and clean electricity for Australian homes and businesses while reducing the need for electricity that would otherwise be sourced from generators with higher emissions intensity,” Pollington said in a statement on Friday.

For Boc, the deal supports the global climate and renewable energy targets of parent company, Linde – cutting Boc Australia’s emissions by more than 40 per cent by 2035.

“In addition to lowering BOC’s emissions in Australia, it will also help our customers become more efficient and decarbonise their operations by supplying industrial gases which have a lower carbon intensity at a competitive price,” Boc’s Theo Martin said on Friday. 

For the Ross Garnaut-backed Zen, the deal to supply Boc marks the first global customer for its “zero emissions now” retail energy product it has built from the ground up.

“This is the transition to renewable energy in action and at scale,” Zen Energy CEO Anthony Garnaut said on Friday.

“Such big steps forward for industrial sustainability and emissions reduction would not be possible unless a genuine partnership between Boc, Acen Australia and Zen was involved.

“Boc is Zen’s first global customer. This demonstrates great confidence in our business model and our strategy,” Garnaut says.

“Zen was the first energy company to commit to science-based targets to reduce carbon emissions, and this agreement is proof positive that Boc is firmly of the same mind and mission.”

The New England solar farm is the Philippines-based Acen’s first major operating asset in Australia, while the 400 MW Stubbo solar farm is nearing completion in the NSW central west of NSW.

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.