Electricity retailer SmartestEnergy Australia announced it has reached financial close on a long-term deal with Mytilineos to purchase power from the 40 MW Kingaroy Solar Farm being developed near the town of the same name in Queensland’s South Burnett region.
The deal will see SmartestEnergy, an electricity retailer owned by Japanese investment company Marubeni, purchase electricity from the project, although neither company involved in the power purchase agreement (PPA) provided details as to the amount of power, or the length of the arrangement.
In a statement, SmartestEnergy only said it will purchase “a substantial portion of the solar farm’s electricity output over a long-term period” which it will then retail to its commercial and industrial customer base in Australia.
SmartestEnergy Australia Chief Executive Officer Robert Owens said the offtake agreement will grow the company’s renewable energy portfolio and allow it to expand its product offering.
“In Australia, solar and energy storage solutions are key to a sustainable energy future. Long-term deals like the new Kingaroy PPA not only help ensure new assets are built in Australia but also enable the delivery of clean energy for decades to come,” he said.
Mytilineos said the Kingaroy Solar Farm is now in the final stage of construction and the project is expected to begin commercial operations in “late 2023” with the output enough to power the equivalent of 16,000 Australian homes.
The developer noted that a portion of the funds raised from the SmartestEnergy PPA will be invested into completing the construction of the facility and progressing Mytilineos’ renewables build-out strategy in the Australian market.
The Kingaroy project is one of three Australian solar farms Mytilineos reached financial close on earlier this year as it continues to develop its solar pipeline in the country.
The company said its Australian portfolio totals 376 MW with most projects supported by long-term offtake agreements. These include deals with the Queensland government-owned generator CS Energy, supermarket giant Coles, and publicly owned telecommunications company NBN Co.
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