AGL has achieved financial close on its Nyngan and Broken Hill solar PV power stations. Herbert Smith Freehills advised AGL on the projects, working closely with AGL to assist it achieve this significant milestone.
The power stations will have a combined capacity of approximately 155 MW and cost around $450 million. The Nyngan power station (102 MW approx.) will be the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, incorporating some 1,350,000 solar PV panels.
The projects will be partially funded through grant contributions of approximately $167 million from ARENA and $65 m from the NSW Government. First Solar will design and construct the power stations on an EPC basis.
Herbert Smith Freehills advised AGL on several aspects of the projects, including grant funding arrangements, EPC procurement, O&M, land tenure, equity, tax and planning. The wide range of stakeholders, and need to coordinate contractual arrangements between them, contributed to the transaction’s complexity.
The Herbert Smith Freehills team included partners Toby Anderson, Peter Briggs and Baden Furphy, executive counsel Alicia Albury and senior associate Kris Percy. The team first began work on the projects in 2010, when AGL applied for funding under the Commonwealth’s previous Solar Flagships program.
“We advised AGL on its first wind farm project and greatly appreciated the opportunity to do the same for its first solar project,” said Anderson. “AGL’s team, particularly Natasha Vyrnwy-Jones, Nigel Bean, Doug Landfear and Peter Tarimo, have worked tirelessly to achieve a fantastic result.”
Herbert Smith Freehills has now advised AGL on close to 1,000 MW of renewable energy projects which are currently under construction or in operation, including Macarthur Wind Farm, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
Allens, Norton Rose and Clayton Utz also advised on this transaction.
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