French renewable energy and storage developer Neoen has secured a $1.4 billion debt package for part of its wind, solar and battery portfolio in Australia, including what will be the country’s biggest battery project.
Neoen, which has agreed to an $11 billion takeover from Brookfield Asset Management, says the debt package has come from 11 Australian and international lenders, including $100 million from the Clean Energy Finance Corp, and covers 1.3 GW of capacity.
This is made up of three solar operating solar farms (Griffith, Dubbo and Parkes in NSW), one completed wind farm (Kaban in Queensland) and the completed first stage of the 270 MW, 540 MWh Western Downs battery, also in Queensland.
Projects still under construction covered by the new package include the 440 MW Culcairn solar farm in NSW, and the 341 MW, 1363 MWh stage 2 of the Collie battery, which will form part of the country’s biggest battery – a total of 560 MW and 2240 MWh when complete in late 2025.
Neoen is arguably the country’s most successful developer of wind, solar and battery projects, and has proved particularly adept at making sure it is in the winners circle with some of the country’s biggest tenders and contracts.
That is the case with Culcairn, which has been awarded an underwriting agreement by the NSW government, and the Collie battery, which has won lucrative “solar soak” contracts for both the first and second stages of the project.
The debt package has a maturity of between 5.5 and 7 years, which seems typical for such projects, and the list of banks includes the CEFC, ANZ, Westpac, Bank of China, the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation, ING, KfW IPEX-Bank, Mizuho, MUFG, SMBC, and Societe Generale.
Neoen Australia CEO Jean-Christophe Cheylus says it is the group’s second major debt financing tranche.
“This transaction underlines the unique depth of our portfolio in Australia,” he said in a statement. “It serves to strengthen our owner operator business model and provides us with a solid foundation for future growth.”
CEFC chief executive Ian Learmonth said CEFC capital is now backing more than 2.3 GW in new battery capacity across nine projects Australia-wide – including both stages of the Collie battery – and more than 6.2 GW of clean energy generation.
“Australia’s future low emissions economy depends on secure and reliable energy, and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 that energy must be renewable,” Learmonth said.
“Our work with Neoen adds critical additional clean energy generation to its portfolio to further accelerate the clean energy transition. The new generation and storage assets financed by this investment will play a significant role in helping Australia achieve its national target of 82 per cent renewables by 2030.“
Neoen is targeting 10 GW in operation or under construction across the globe in the course of 2025.
