CEFC providing AU$94m debt financing for Queensland solar, wind, energy storage hybrid park

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
CEFC will provide AU$94 million (US$74 million) in debt finance. Credit: UNEP

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) have both financed the Kennedy hybrid solar, wind and storage project in north Queensland, which is being developed Windlab and Eurus Energy.

CEFC will provide AU$94 million (US$74 million) in debt finance for what will be Australia’s first large-scale project using all three of these technologies.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

ARENA had also already provided up to AU$18 million in recoupable grant funding for the project, announced last year.

The AU$170 million 60MW project will consist of 43.2MW of wind, 15MW of solar PV, a 2MW / 4MWh lithium-ion battery and a synchronous condenser. It will connect to the local grid and Windlab has secured a 10-year PPA with Queensland government-owned CS Energy to purchase the renewable energy and some of the large-scale generation certificates (LGCs) from the project.

The hybrid project is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2018.

CEFC wind sector lead Andrew Gardner. “Financing three separate technologies on one site was a complex undertaking that had not previously been achieved in Australia. As the sole debt financier for this project, our goal was to demonstrate the bankability of large-scale, integrated hybrid renewable energy projects for the future. We expect such projects to become an increasingly important part of Australia's electricity system, with complementary battery storage addressing the intermittency of wind and solar generation to support grid stability.”

Windlab chairman and chief executive Roger Price said: “Successfully completing this project will also help unlock the enormous potential of Big Kennedy, the 1,200MW wind resource 80 kilometres north of Kennedy Energy Park that will be critical in balancing the large amounts of solar generation that is being added to the Queensland network.”

This week, however, the Australian indusrty was concerned about the government's decision to drop the Clean Energy Target in favour of a “technology-neutral” policy.

17 June 2025
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 17-18 June 2025, will be our fourth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2026 and beyond.
1 July 2025
London, UK
UK Solar Summit 2025 will look at the role solar currently plays in the energy mix, how this will change over the coming years and how this aligns with net-zero and other government targets. We will break down all these challenges and help build up solutions through discursive panels, motivational keynotes and case studies, with newly added interactive sessions to get you moving and meeting your peers, making the connections you need to boost your business.
1 July 2025
Leonardo Royal Hotel London Tower Bridge, London, UK

Read Next

May 1, 2025
Yarra Energy Foundation has secured funding to install three new community batteries in and around Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
May 1, 2025
AEMO has revealed that, as of March 2025, the pipeline of new standalone BESS in the NEM has increased by 86% year-on-year (YoY).
April 29, 2025
Australia’s MGA Thermal has completed what it claims is the world’s first industrial steam heat energy storage demonstrator project.
April 29, 2025
Australian renewables developer Edify Energy submits 180MWh solar-plus-storage site in New South Wales to Australia’s EPBC Act.
April 28, 2025
Australian energy infrastructure company Jemena has switched on two new 400kWh community batteries in Bellfield and Coburg in Victoria, Australia.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter