Neoen has more than doubled its Australian renewable energy portfolio financing by securing debt for an additional 1300MW of wind, solar and storage assets.
The AUS$1.4bn of debt, with maturity of 5.5 years and 7 years, covers the financing of three new assets, including two projects currently under construction.
The deal builds on Neoen’s first tranche of portfolio debt financing announced in February 2024.
Taken together, this now represents over AUS$2bn in debt for 15 assets in operation or under construction with a combined capacity of 2.9GW.
The transaction was well received as a result of the portfolio’s high levels of contracted revenue and its asset mix of different technologies (solar, wind and storage) across different states.
The financing package provides Neoen with further flexibility to grow the platform in the future.
Debt is being provided by a group of 11 major Australian and international lenders: ANZ, Bank of China, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation, ING, KfW IPEX-Bank, Mizuho, MUFG, SMBC, Societe Generale and Westpac.
The operating assets being added to the portfolio are three solar farms in New South Wales (Griffith Solar Farm, Parkes Solar Farm and Dubbo Solar Hub for a total capacity of 130MWp) and a wind farm in Queensland (Kaban Green Power Hub, 157MW).
The new debt raised also enables the financing of three new assets: the 270MW Western Downs Battery Stage 1 (270MW) in Queensland, the 440MWp Culcairn Solar Farm in New South Wales and the 341MW Collie Battery Stage 2 (341 MW / 1,363 MWh) in Western Australia.
Jean-Christophe Cheylus, Neoen Australia chief executive, said: “We are delighted to announce this second tranche of our portfolio financing, and we extend our thanks to all our lenders for their continued trust and commitment.
“This transaction underlines the unique depth of our portfolio in Australia. It serves to strengthen our owner operator business model and provides us with a solid foundation for future growth.”