Financial Close For 300 MW AC Solar Farm In Australia’s NSW

• CEFC has made its largest project financing to date for a solar farm with $100 million commitment
• It has been awarded to FRV's 300 MW AC Walla Walla Solar Farm in Riverina region of NSW
• The facility is contracted to supply clean energy to Microsoft's data centers in the country under a 15-year PPA

Australian government's Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has shelled out $100 million for 300 MW AC Walla Walla Solar Farm of Spain's Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) Australia as the largest solar farm to be project financed by the agency to date.

Other funders of this facility are ING and the Export Development Canada.

"With global pressure on supply chains forcing construction costs up, and the effect of covid lockdowns on manufacturing further increasing prices, CEFC capital remains available to ensure that these short-term challenges do not derail the achievements of the past decade," said CEFC Head of Solar and Battery Storage Niall Brady.

CEFC counts this project as its 3^rd investment in large scale energy generation in last 2 months.

With this, FRV Australia has now achieved financial closure for the project that's due to come up in Riverina region, near Albury in New South Wales (NSW). The project is contracted by Microsoft under a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply clean energy to its Australian data centers as it targets to go 100% renewable by 2025.

FRV says the PPA was instrumental in the company achieving financial close on the solar farm. It expects the facility to generate up to 250 jobs during construction phase. It will be built by Gransolar under a joint venture (JV) with China's Chint Solar.

It is the Spanish company's 5^th solar farm in NSW and its 10^th in Australia, altogether representing over 1 GW capacity. FRV Australia is partly owned by Canadian pension fund OMERS Infrastructure (see Canadian Pension Fund Invests In FRV).