Canadian pension fund manager La Caisse announced that it would invest about $1.1 billion (CAD 1 billion) to acquire Sydney-headquartered developer Edify Energy with the deal to also provide equity to finance two integrated solar-battery projects totalling 900 MW of PV and 3,600 MWh of energy storage.
Founded in 2015, Edify has since delivered 11 projects across New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria, totalling more than 1.1 GW of capacity. It also has about 11.2 GW of renewable energy generation and storage projects in its development pipeline.
The most advanced of these are the Smoky Creek and Guthrie’s Gap hybrid solar and battery project planned for central Queensland, and the Majors Creek and Ganymirra project proposed for that state’s north. The Smoky Creek and Guthrie’s Gap project is to include 600 MW of solar and a 600 MW / 2,400 MWh battery energy storage system. The Majors Creek and Ganymirra development will feature a 300 MW solar farm and a 300 MW / 1,200 MWh battery.
La Caisse said the two “ready-to-build” projects are underpinned by offtake agreements with Rio Tinto and the federal government, respectively.
Edify founder and Executive Chairman John Cole said the backing from La Caisse will support the company’s next phase of growth, enabling projects to be financed and delivered more quickly.
“The agreement with La Caisse is a pivotal moment for Edify, providing balance sheet strength to seriously ramp up Edify’s speed of execution of firm dispatchable green generators,” he said.
“In La Caisse, we have found the perfect owner to supercharge the business and take Edify’s enviable market position to the next level.”
La Caisse Executive Vice President and head of infrastructure and sustainability Emmanuel Jaclot said the investment group’s backing will allow Edify to the fast-track the rollout of its portfolio of solar and storage projects.
“With our long-term capital and sustainability expertise, Edify will accelerate the delivery of large-scale renewable and storage projects that strengthen the grid and advance decarbonisation,” he said.
“This reflects our strong conviction in the critical role these technologies will continue to play in the global energy transition.”
Edify has 11.2 GW worth of projects in its development pipeline, including a quartet of projects that have been ticked off under the federal government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act this year. These include the Nowingi Solar Power Station in Victoria that is feature a 300 MW solar plant and 300 MW / 2,400 MWh battery, and the 90 MW Brewongle Solar Farm and associated 90 MW/180 MWh battery, the 80 MW Peninsula Solar Farm and 80 MW/160 MWh battery, and the 100 MW Burroway Solar Farm and 100 MW/400 MWh battery, all in New South Wales.
In addition to projects currently in development, it is managing the operations of six solar farms and five battery energy storage systems that it has developed. Operating assets include the 50 MW Gannawarra solar farm and 25 MW / 50 MWh battery, and the 185 MW / 370 MWh Koorangie battery energy storage project, both in Victoria.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.