One of Australia’s first solar farms goes into administration, and will be sold

One of the first large scale solar farms built in Australia – the 13.3MW (ac) Mugga Lane Solar Park, has gone into voluntary administration and has been put up for sale.

Scott Langdon and David Osborne of KordaMentha were appointed as voluntary administrators of Mugga Lane Solar Park last week, even though the facility has a lucrative and long term off take agreement with the ACT government.

Mugga Lane was one of seven wind and solar farms that won the ACT government’s first tender on its way to its target of sourcing the equivalent of 100 per cent of its electricity from renewables.

Mugga Lane’s contract was for a guaranteed price of $A178/MWh, which appears a huge number in the current environment where strike prices are expected to be less than one third of that.

It’s not entirely clear what’s gone wrong. The KordaMentha statement says only the appointment  was necessary due to the “recent external effects on the financial arrangements” of Mugga Lane Solar Park.

It is understood the owners of Mugga Lane, Maoneng, had been seeking to refinance the facility, which is housed in a special purpose vehicle.

Why problems have emerged at Mugga Lane given the long term contract with a government entity at such a high price, and given there appears to be no operational problems, is not clear.

Maoneng has been announcing a whole series of large scale solar and battery storage projects, but it insists it will not be impacted by the situation at Mugga Lane.

“Mugga Lane Solar Park is a group subsidiary asset operating under a special purpose vehicle structure,” a Maoneng spokesperson said in a statement.

“The appointment of KordaMentha, the voluntary administrators, only relates to Mugga Lane Solar Park, and does not affect other group operations or any related entities.”

Just last week Maoneng announced proposals for a 550MW solar farm and a 1600MWh battery in NSW. It also has a contract to deliver 400MWh of battery storage to AGL and has a small stake in the 200MW Sunraysia solar farm.

It has also secured planning approval to build the biggest battery in South Australia, plans to develop a 2GW solar pipeline, and separately a 240MW/480MWh big battery in Victoria.

The Mugga Lane solar park is built on a 52-hectare site in the south of Canberra, was completed in March, 2017, and generates approximately 24,500MWh of electricity a year.

“Mugga Lane Solar Park will continue to operate on a ‘business as usual’ basis and there will be no disruption to operations or any stakeholders,” KordaMentha’s Langdon said in a statement.

“The Voluntary Administrators will work collaboratively with the director to run an international sale process and maximise competitive tension and the financial outcomes for all stakeholders and creditors.”

Langdon said he expected a high level of international interest in the Mugga Lane solar park due to the unique nature of the asset. “We encourage anyone interested in purchasing the Mugga Lane Solar Park to contact our office immediately,” he said.