Global law firm Ashurst Perkins Coie has advised Vena Energy on approximately A$1.4 billion in green financing facilities to support solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) assets across Australia.
The facilities are structured across two transactions, combining greenfield project funding with the refinancing of existing facilities. The assets are located across Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales.
The first transaction supports 294 MWp of operational solar capacity, 320 MWp of solar capacity under construction and 408 MWh of BESS capacity under construction across the Tailem Bend and Wandoan South precincts in South Australia and Queensland. The assets include the Wandoan South Solar 1 Project, Wandoan South Solar 2 Project, Tailem Bend Solar 1 Project and Tailem Bend 3 BESS.
Ashurst Perkins Coie also advised Vena Energy on the second transaction, which relates to a three-project BESS portfolio. The portfolio comprises the operational 150 MWh Wandoan South BESS in Queensland and two adjacent 583 MWh battery energy storage units under construction in New South Wales, representing 1,166 MWh of aggregate storage capacity.
The green financing facilities were provided by a group of international and Australian lenders, comprising BNP Paribas, Bank of China, DBS Bank, ING Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo (IMI CIB Division), Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, OCBC, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Westpac Banking Corporation.
Vena Energy, the renewable energy arm of Vena Group, is a leading green energy solutions provider with solar, wind and battery storage assets across the Asia-Pacific region.
Partner Chris Redden said:
“We are delighted to have advised Vena Energy on these significant Australian green financing transactions. The transactions underscore Vena Energy’s continued investment in Australia’s energy transition and the expansion of its Australian platform, while demonstrating the growing depth of Australian and international lender support for high-quality renewable energy and storage assets.”
The Ashurst Perkins Coie team was led by partner Chris Redden, who was assisted by: counsel Douglas Fung, senior associates Matthew Selth, Jonathan Chew and Harrison Xu, and associates Connor McFadden, Kasturi PK Kunalan, India Becroft, Thomas Robertson, Gary Lou, Stella Lee, Athena Krisanaleela, Jayfer Joy, and Irene Ma.
