Acen Australia has secured AU$750 million (US$472 million) in debt financing to support the rollout of its 13GW renewable energy and storage portfolio.
Acen Australia revealed today (14 April) that a group of 11 Australian and international lenders supported the transaction, including ANZ Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Cathay United Bank, CTBC Bank, Deutsche BankDBS Bank, HSBC, MUFG Bank, SMBC, UOB, and Westpac.
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These organisations were advised on the deal by global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills. Law firm Allens acted as the legal advisor for Acen Australia.
Acen Australia managing director David Pollington hailed the financing, stating that it creates a “robust funding base for the company’s diverse portfolio of wind, solar, pumped hydro and battery storage projects, which includes more than 1,000MW of renewable capacity in operation and under construction, and a further 13GW in development across the National Electricity Market (NEM).”
Additionally, the financing will support the ‘near-complete’ 400MW Stubbo Solar project and the 720MW New England solar PV power plant in New South Wales. The New England plant, which is divided into two stages, saw its first stage operational in March 2023.
The second stage of the New England plant involves the construction of a co-located 400MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), which started in February 2025. The New England project supplies energy to Japanese-owned drinks company Asahi Beverages and not-for-profit care company BaptistCare via a power purchase agreement inked in July 2024.
It is also set to play an integral role in a tri-party deal that will see industrial gas supplier BOC Australia replace 45% of its grid power needs with solar-derived renewable energy.
Meanwhile, the Stubbo PV project is located in the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), which recently set its sights on construction later this year. Its approval contains provision for a 200MWh battery energy storage system, which Acen said will contribute to the area’s grid stability by storing and distributing renewable energy at peak times.
Acen Australia head of development Killian Wentrup said there has been a “land grab” for suitable project sites in the NEM at the Energy Storage Summit Australia 2025, hosted by our publisher Solar Media in Sydney last month.
Wentrup and representatives of developers Valent Energy and Eku Energy discussed the main challenges facing developers of energy storage assets, including co-located renewable-plus-storage projects. The panellists talked about aspects of development, including finding sites with nearby grid connections and then achieving grid code compliance, permitting and regulatory bottlenecks and the importance of good community engagement practices.
Our publisher, Solar Media, will host the Battery Asset Management Summit Australia 2025 on 26-27 August in Sydney. Tickets can be purchased here.
You can read the full article on our sister site PV Tech.
Additional reporting for Energy-Storage.news by Andy Colthorpe.
