Zen Energy signs new-look offtake deal with teenaged wind farm

Ross Garnaut-led retailer Zen Energy has bolstered its “baseload renewables” portfolio with what it describes as an “industry-first” offtake deal, this time with one of Australia’s more senior wind power projects, Acciona Energy’s Waubra wind farm in Victoria.

Zen says it has signed a 10-year deal with the 192MW wind farm – which was completed more than 10 years ago in 2009 – to source around 200,000MWh a year of 100% renewable energy.

That amounts to roughly 34% of the total generation of the Waubra project, which is located 35km northwest of Ballarat in Victoria.

Zen CEO Anthony Garnaut says in a statement that the structure of the Acciona deal marks “another industry-first” for the retailer, which he credits to the flexibility and creativity of the Acciona team.

RenewEconomy was unable to get any further detail on how, exactly, this offtake deal is different from others, due to restrictions around commercial in confidence, but understands Zen is very happy with the terms and structure.

“This is another representation of Zen disrupting the norm and finding creative ways to deliver these contracts in a way that the relevant parties benefit,” a Zen energy spokesperson said.

Zen started its journey to supply cheap “basload renewables” to Australian businesses back in late 2017, when it obtained a licence to retail electricity, with a focus on users with demand of more than 160MWh per annum.

The Waubra offtake deal follows closely on an earlier deal with the 87MW Tailem Bend 2 solar farm, in partnership with the SA Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME).

“The signing of this offtake agreement with Waubra Wind Farm, along with the recent offtake from Tailem Bend 2 Solar Farm, is just the beginning of our contribution to the energy transition,” said Anthony Garnaut.

“We are focused on structuring our deals in an innovative and sustainable manner, that complements the needs of our customers and energy market participants.

“We have a long-standing partnership with the team at Acciona Energía and this new agreement with the Waubra Wind Farm is a testament to the strong relationships we seek to build with our supply partners.”

Acciona’s director of energy markets and policy, Melanie Sutton, said the renewables developer was shared Zen’s motivation to create sustainable solutions for their energy customers.

“We know that large-scale renewables can confidently supply the power required for commercial customers,” Sutton said.

“Today is another example of how a major business can supply green renewable energy to reduce power bills.”

All up, Zen says it now sources renewable electricity from 17 different solar and wind assets around Australia and has contracted to supply a range of customers including the South Australian government, CSIRO, and the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC).