ACEN Australia’s two solar projects, New England Solar (720 MW) and Stubbo Solar (400 MW), have secured 20-year Long Term Energy Service Agreements at the first renewable energy and storage auction by the New South Wales (NSW) Government.
New England Solar, The first operational project of ACEN Australia, is one of the country’s largest solar projects participating in the National Electricity Market (NEM). It is also the largest Australian solar project being financed on a fully-merchant basis.
The Stubbo Solar Project, on the other hand, began construction in late 2022 and will be connected to the 330 kilovolt (kV) network between Wollar and Wellington.
Once in full operation, these projects will help meet the NSW Government’s goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 by supplying renewable energy (RE) to 435,000 homes.
For ACEN Australia CEO Anton Rohner, LTESAs offer investment certainty for businesses like ACEN.
“The LTESAs offer the rights to access a minimum price for generation projects over a 20-year timeframe, which protects investors like us from the risk of unexpectedly low wholesale electricity prices,” he said.
Rohner further explained that the agreement encourages investments in RE and the storage capacity required to quicken the transition to clean, affordable, and reliable energy for Australians.
ACEN Australia currently has one gigawatt (GW) of capacity under construction, valued at US$1 billion, and over eight GW of capacity in various stages of development throughout Australia.
“Our focus is on ensuring that we develop projects that offer the right mix of benefits and opportunities for NSW and Australia at large. We commend the Government for its commitment to deliver better value, not just to NSW electricity consumers but to project proponents like ACEN as well,” ACEN Corp. CEO Eric Francia said.