Australia’s Edify Energy and leading international renewable energy investor Wirsol are constructing three large scale solar farms that will add a combined 165MW of capacity to the national electricity grid. CEFC committed a total of AU$78 million to the three projects and its loan is part of a AU$230 million syndicated senior debt facility that also involves Commonwealth Bank and Germany’s NORD/LB. The Whitsunday project also receives up to AU$9.5 million in grant funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), as part of its large-scale solar funding round.
The Commonwealth Bank’s involvement marks a significant turning point for large-scale solar financing in Australia. The Commonwealth Bank worked alongside the CEFC to compete the financing over a longer tenor, which is notable given the merchant rice risk component of the project.