Australian site secures finance for extension

AUSTRALIA: Developer Neoen has secured a A$173.5 million ($128.8 million) loan to extend its 100MW Hornsdale project in South Australia.

by David Weston 30 June 2016

Construction of the first 100MW phase at Hornsdale is under way

KfW Ipex and Société Générale have provided the finance to Neoen to double the project size to 200MW.

Siemens will supply a further 32 3.2MW turbines to the second stage. The manufacturer won the contract to provide the first 100MW phase in August 2015.

Construction is currently taking place for the first phase, near Jamestown, 200km north of Adelaide in South Australia state. The first turbine was installed in May 2016.

Power from the first phase will be sold to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government — 1,000km to the east of the country — at a fixed price of A$92/MWh ($67/MWh) for 20 years.

The second phase has also secured a power purchase deal with the ACT government, which will be sold at A$77/MWh ($57/MWh), following a wind auction in December.