Construction of the 333MWDC (275MWAC) Darlington Point Solar Farm will commence shortly. Once operational it will generate 685,000 MWh of renewable energy each year – enough to power around 115,000 homes. Generation is expected to start in early 2020.
The transaction involved the development, project financing and equity sell-down in the Darlington Point Solar Farm, which is a utility-scale solar project (275 MW AC/333 MW DC) in Darlington Point, New South Wales.
The development approval opens the door to expand the project to include utility-scale battery storage in the future in order to provide ancillary services to the grid or to assist in meeting evening peak electricity demand.
The Ashurst team was led by partners Paul Newman and David Mason. Paul led the project development, power purchase agreement and due diligence with assistance from partner Tanya Denning, counsels Laura van den Berg and Nerida Cooley, senior associates Dale Gill, Carol Kahler, Harry Stone, Lillian Yeung and associates Ivan Biros, Danielle Davidson, Kate Ferguson, Tristan Shepherd and Michelle Tesch. David Mason led the project financing negotiations, assisted by counsel Tim Macmillan. Partner Tony Hill and associate Luke Salem advised on planning and environment issues.
Commenting on the transaction, Paul Newman, said:
“We are very pleased to have advised Edify Energy on the development and financing of what is expected to be Australia’s largest solar energy project. We are particularly proud that it continues our close relationship with Edify Energy having advised on all of its other market-leading projects, including the portfolio development and financing of a total of five large scale solar farms and the development of an innovative battery storage project.
“The Darlington Point Solar Farm confirms Edify Energy’s position as Australia’s leading solar power project developer and asset manager, whose solar projects are capable of generating electricity equivalent to supplying nearly 3% of all Australian homes. We have worked with Edify Energy from the very beginning and are very appreciative of the opportunity to support them on their renewables projects that are fundamentally changing the Australian electricity supply market.
“I am proud of the Ashurst team’s ability to seamlessly work across the multiple aspects of a project’s development and financing. Through market-leading expertise, hard work and collaboration, we were able to take this complex transaction from the early stages of development to completion within four months.”
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