Australian developer Tilt Renewables is raising A$260m through a new share offer to invest in the proposed 336MW Dundonnell wind farm in Victoria.
Dundonnell is expected to cost around A$563m. Construction began in January 2019 and the wind farm is slated to start generating power by September 2020.
Approximately A$300m of project costs will be funded by a combination of a syndicated bank debt package from Tilt’s existing banking syndicate and a term facility with the Danish Export Credit Agency.
The proceeds of the share offer, plus cash reserves, will be used to fund the remaining expected construction costs, in the region of A$260m.
Vestas will supply 80 V150-4.2MW turbines under an engineering, procurement and construction contract, with AusNet Services delivering the transmission connection under a build, own and operate model.
On 14 February 2018, Tilt announced that it had submitted a bid into the Victorian Renewable Energy Auction Scheme (VREAS) for a portion of the electricity produced by Dundonnell.
Tilt secured a support agreement from the Victorian government with a term of 15 years, which will provide the generator with price certainty for around 37% of the electricity and green products produced by the wind farm.
The company has also secured a further 15 year off-take contract for an additional 50% of the electricity and green products produced by Dundonnell, following a competitive process undertaken electricity generator and retailer Snowy Hydro.
These offtake contracts combine to provide price certainty for approximately 87% of the output of the project for 15 years, from when the project becomes operational.
Following the board’s approval of the project on 30 October 2018, the developer reached financial close on Dundonnell on 14 November 2018.