Elgar Middleton is delighted to have advised TagEnergy on the financing of Stage One of the Golden Plains Wind Farm.
With all agreements now in place, building the A$2bn, 756MW Stage One development will begin early in 2023, with the project expected to start producing green energy in the first quarter of 2025. The engineering, procurement and construction work and turbine supply will be undertaken by Vestas and will feature 122 wind turbines.
Once both stages are complete, Golden Plains, which is 150 km west of Melbourne, will be Australia’s largest wind farm at 1,300 MW. It will supply sustainable energy for more than 750,000 homes and feature a 300MW battery storage facility that will add flexibility and stability to the grid.
Elgar Middleton was exclusive financial advisor to TagEnergy, the sole investor, and assisted in securing an innovative non-recourse financing package from a lending group comprising Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corporation, KfW IPEX-Bank, Mizuho Bank, Bank of China, EKF, Denmark’s export credit agency and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Australia’s government owned green bank.
Financial close was achieved without the need for power purchase agreements (PPAs) and reflects TagEnergy’s pioneering investment strategy as well as an increasing willingness among banks to adopt innovative approaches to funding renewable energy in the Australian market.
Elgar Middleton is excited about the future of the Golden Plains project and, in particular, its ability to assist in the decarbonisation of the Australian electricity grid for many years to come.