French renewables developer Neoen has more than doubled its Australian renewable energy portfolio financing by securing a further $1.4 billion (USD 890 million) of debt for an additional 1.3 GW of wind, solar and storage assets.
Neoen Australia Chief Executive Officer Jean-Christophe Cheylus said the transaction underlines the unique depth of the company’s portfolio in Australia.
“It serves to strengthen our owner operator business model and provides us with a solid foundation for future growth,” Cheylus said.
The debt, with maturity of 5.5 years and 7 years, covers the financing of three new assets, including two projects currently under construction.
The operating assets being added to the portfolio are three solar farms in regional New South Wales (NSW), and include the 36 MW Griffith Solar Farm located 7 kilometres from the Riverina regional city of Griffith and the 66 MW Parkes Solar Farm, 10 kilometres west of Parkes.
The third asset is the 28.7 MW Dubbo Solar Hub, comprising two sites in Dubbo and the neighbouring town, 25 kilometres to the west at Narromine, plus a wind farm in Queensland, the 157 MW Kaban Green Power Hub.
Image: Neoen
The new debt raised also enables the financing of three new assets, which includes the 270 MW / 540 MWh Western Downs Battery Stage 1 in Queensland, which has contracted multiple virtual battery agreements.
The 440 MWp Culcairn Solar Farm in NSW inalso covered, which has a 4-year power purchase agreement with London-headquartered Smartest Energy for 50% of its output and a long-term energy services agreement (LTESA) with the NSW government is on track to be operational in 2026.
The third asset is in Western Australia (WA) and is the 341 MW / 1,363 MWh Collie Battery Stage 2, which has a 300 MW / 4-hour capacity services contract with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), ad on track to be completed Q4 2025.
Debt is being provided by a group of 11 major Australian and international lenders: ANZ, Bank of China, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, ING, KfW IPEX-Bank, Mizuho, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Societe Generale and Westpac.
The deal builds on Neoen’s first tranche of portfolio debt financing announced in February 2024.
Neoen’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Xavier Barbaro the new tranche of debt finance demonstrates Neoen’s ability to create value, thanks to its maturing and diversified asset portfolio, and further cements the company’s ambition to play an active role in the energy transition in Australia, and around the world.
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