Spain’s Naturgy raises $2.3 billion for Australian renewables portfolio as new wind farm comes online

Spanish energy company Naturgy has borrowed $2.3 billion to continue building its Australian portfolio, just after it commissioned the 89 megawatt (MW) Hawkesdale wind farm in Victoria.

The financing was secured from 11 international banks. 

It comes a week after the company signed a €1 billion ($A1.6 billion) loan with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to build out more wind and solar in Spain.

“The transaction reflects the strong position of the Naturgy Group in Australia, through its subsidiary GPG, as one of the most successful independent power producers in recent years and a solid commitment to consolidating the platform and its future growth,” said Francisco Bustío, CEO of Naturgy subsidiary Global Power Generation, which manages the Australia portfolio.

The loan is over a portfolio of eight operating assets, six wind farms, one battery storage project and one solar-hybrid with storage, two photovoltaic plants under construction and one solar-plus-battery hybrid project under development. 

GPG’s installed wind portfolio includes the 180 MW Berrybank 1, the 109 MW Berrybank 2, the 91 MW Crookwell 2 and 97 MW Hawkesdale projects, the 218.4 MW Ryan Corner and 57.6 MW Crookwell 3 farms. 

It switched on the 10 MW/20 MWh Queanbeyan battery in the ACT last year, and it has just under 1 GW of wind and solar under construction or in development across the country. 

Naturgy says it will soon open the Cunderdin 128 MW solar and 55 MW/220 MWh battery hybrid plant, which it says is the first solar hybrid project in Australia.

It has also started construction of the 260 MW Glenellen and 100 MW Bundaberg solar farms. 

GPG officially opens the Ryan Corner wind farm, its largest in Australia, and the Crookwell 3 project, this week.