FRV Achieves Financial Close for 70 Megawatt Moree Solar Farm in Australia
| Sustainable InfrastructureFotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), a leading global solar development company, today announced the financial close of the 70 megawatt (MWp) Moree Solar Farm (Moree). Construction will begin immediately, marking the first large scale solar project in Australia that will utilize mechanical devices (trackers) to continually orient its solar panels with the sun to increase their power output each day.
Moree will also be one of the largest solar projects in Australia. Once completed it will produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly 15,000 New South Wales homes and abate nearly 95,000 tons of carbon pollution each year.
The project is funded by the Australian government through a grant of AUD$101.7 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and debt on commercial terms from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). It is also supported by the Australian government’s existing Renewable Energy Target (RET), which has already delivered significant investment in new clean energy projects in Australia. The RET ensures at least 41,000 gigawatt hours of Australia’s energy demand is met by renewable energy by the year 2020.
“This is a significant and exciting moment for large scale solar in Australia. This project is not only an opportunity to develop a large scale solar project which helps meet the energy needs of Australia by providing renewable power, it also will enhance the possibilities of additional large scale solar projects in Australia, by providing a framework others can follow.”
“We would particularly like to thank ARENA and the CEFC for their commercial support and Moree Plains Shire Council, Moree community and the NSW government who all have supported the project since its inception.” said FRV CEO, Rafael Benjumea.
About FRV
FRV is a leading global solar development company with approximately3GW of active project development in the emerging solar markets including Australia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Such markets are primarily characterized by the fact that solar power generation can be provided at cost less than the marginal cost of power and/or have broad support for the development of solar power.
Since 2006, the management team has completed the construction, operation, maintenance and financing of over 500 MW of photovoltaic and CSP solar energy plants. Such projects represent more than $2.4 billion in total financings with more than 20 leading banks.
Denham Capital, an energy and resources focused private equity firm with more than $7.9 billion in invested and committed funds, is a majority shareholder in FRV.