Goldwind secures financing for largest wind project in Australia
Goldwind Australia, a subsidiary of Chinese wind turbine manufacturer, has secured nearly AUD700 million (US$536 million) project financing for construction of Australia’s largest wind farm, the 530-MW Stockyard Hill Wind Farm, located in Western Victoria.
The National Australia Bank (NAB) led the nine-member domestic and international bank syndicate which includes three Australian banks, three Japanese banks, two European banks and one Chinese bank.
Alongside NAB, the bank syndicate consists of ABN AMRO, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (MUFG), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Mizuho Bank, Societe Generale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and Westpac Banking Corporation.
On the other hand, SNC-Lavalin has been selected as the preferred contractor for the for the wind project and has commenced early works.
SNC-Lavalin, in joint venture with WBHO Infrastructure Pty Ltd. (WBHO), will undertake the engineering design, procurement and construction of all electrical infrastructure on the project in addition to site-wide infrastructure civil works; access roads, hardstands, foundations, public road upgrades, and internal access roads.
Stockyard Hill Wind Farm will be located about 35 km west of Ballarat, Victoria. The, project which is slated to be Australia's largest wind farm, will feature 149 turbines and will have a total of capacity of up to 530 MW. Grid connection is located beside the existing Moorabool to Portland 500KV transmission line near Lismore, approximately 30 km south of the project site.
As we reported in May, Australian utility Origin Energy Ltd agreed to sell Stockyard Hill wind project to Goldwind and to sign a and sign a long-term PPA from the commencement of operations in 2019 to 2030.
Origin agreed to buy all of the power generated by the wind farm and the associated Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for a market leading PPA price of below AUD60/MWh (US$44.2/MWh).
We have lately reported about other wind projects in Australia:
