Equis Energy signs 22 year PPA for 127 MW Tailem Bend

South Australia’s Tailem Bend Solar Project has reached financial close, having signed a PPA for 100% of its output with Snowy Hydro. Construction on the project, located 100km south-east of Adelaide, will begin in February 2018.

Equis Energy is continuing to expand its Australia solar portfolio, including plans for a 1 GW project in Queensland.

Image: Equis Energy

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Singapore-headquartered Equis Energy is moving forward with its plans to develop two PV power plant projects in South Australia, together worth close to 250 MW in capacity. It plans to more than quadruple its investment in Australia over the next 2-3 years.

The 127 MW Tailem Bend project will be the first of Equis’ PV investments to commence construction, having reached financial close today. The $200 million project will sell the power it generates to Snowy Hydro under a 22 year PPA.

“Australia represents one of the most exciting solar power generation markets globally and Equis expects to build over $1 billion of new projects over the next 24-36 months,” said David Russell, Equis Energy Director said in a statement.

Land will be reserved at the Tailem Bend site for up to 100 MWh of battery storage.

Equis also plans to develop the 111 MW Tailem Bend 2 project alongside the Tailem Solar, with construction scheduled to being in late 2018. The two projects will share grid connections and infrastructure.

Equis claims to be the largest Independent Power Producer (IPP) in the Asia Pacific region, with a portfolio of over 11 GW of generation assets. In October 2017, it was acquired by Global Infrastructure Partners for a record US$5 billion.

The Tailem Bend project is set to be completed and grid connected in Q1 2019. Equis reports that it will be “one of the lowest cost solar projects in Australia.”

At present South Australia is heavily reliant on wind and gas generation. The introduction of large scale solar, such as the Tailem projects and other such as the 137.7 MW Bungala Solar One PV plant that is currently under construction, may help exert downward pressure on wholesale prices in the state.

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