Akaysha Energy, owned by United States-based investment giant BlackRock, has raised $300 million (USD 195.4 million) in debt to advance the development and construction of its battery energy storage project pipeline in Australia, Japan, the United States and Germany.
Andrew Wegman, Chief Financial and Investment Officer at Akaysha, said the support will allow the company to accelerate the delivery of the large-scale storage needed to keep energy secure and reliable in Australia and beyond.
“This is a landmark facility for Akaysha and for the Australian renewables sector,” he said. “It provides the scale and flexibility to accelerate our development pipeline and capitalise on near-term opportunities in Australian and global energy markets.”
Melbourne-based Akaysha has a portfolio of 11 battery projects in Australia, including the 850 MW / 1,680 MWh Waratah Super Battery nearing completion on the New South Wales (NSW) Central Coast.
The company recently brought online the first 350 MW / 750 MWh of the battery’s capacity with full operation expected later this year.
It is also building the 415 MW / 1,660 MWh Orana battery in central-west NSW and is commissioning the 150 MW / 300 MWh Ulinda Park and 205 MW / 410 MWh Brendale batteries in Queensland.
Other Queensland projects include the 400 MW / 1,600 MWh Halys and Wurdong battery energy storage systems, while in Victoria it is pushing ahead with the same-sized Glenrowan battery and the 300 MW / 1,200 MWh Elaine project. It is also proposing to build a 100 MW / 200 MWh battery near Palmerston in Tasmania.
In South Australia, the company has plans to develop the 200 MW / 800 MWh Mobilong battery energy storage system, and a 250 MW / 1,000 MWh battery and 200 MWp solar farm near Brinkworth in the state’s mid-north region.
Akaysha, acquired by investment giant Blackrock in 2022, also has a portfolio of battery projects in the pipeline in the US, Japan and Germany,
The new funding package, backed by a syndicate of local and international banks including BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, ING, SMBC and Westpac, consists of a three-year multi-currency revolving loan and a letter of credit facility.
Akaysha said the facility is the first borrowing base loan structure of its kind in the Australian renewables sector and provides the flexibility to increase the size of the loan over time, as the value of company’s portfolio of battery assets grows.
“This transaction reflects the growing sophistication of financing in the renewable energy sector, introducing an innovative facility that will accelerate the rollout of large-scale battery storage for Akaysha on a global scale,” Wegman said.
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