The CEFC has committed up to $175 million to develop Stage 1 of the Golden Plains Wind Farm, near Geelong. The project will include 122 wind turbines and generate 756.4 MW of clean energy to replace coal-fired generation. The estimated annual emissions abatement is an average 770,000 tonnes CO2-e, or more than 23 million tonnes CO2-e over the project’s 30-year lifetime.
Golden Plains Wind Farm is the first fully merchant wind farm in Australia to be financed by commercial lenders, with the CEFC commercial debt package crowding in an additional $1.8 billion of private sector capital. This includes 100 per cent equity from clean energy investor TagEnergy, in its first Australian investment. Debt providers include Westpac, Bank of China, Mizuho, German state-owned investment bank KfW, the Commonwealth Bank, and Danish Credit Export Agency EKF.