Three developers have secured debt and equity for solar PV, wind and battery storage projects across Australia and New Zealand, including two large-scale BESS in New South Wales (NSW) and Western Australia (WA).
Neoen has closed AU$1.8 billion (US$1.26 billion) in debt from 13 lenders for a 1.2GW portfolio that includes the 215MW/963MWh Culcairn BESS and the 150MW/193.5MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve.
ASX-listed Frontier Energy has signed an AU$280 million debt facility for its 81.5MW/562MWh Waroona solar-plus-storage project in WA, while New Zealand developer Lightyears has raised NZ$174 million (US$102 million) for more than 300MW of solar PV and battery storage.
Neoen’s AU$1.8 billion portfolio financing
French independent power producer (IPP) Neoen said the package, its largest financing to date, covers five operating and under-construction assets across three Australian states.
Try Premium for just $1
- Full premium access for the first month at only $1
- Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
- Cancel anytime during the trial period
Premium Benefits
- Expert industry analysis and interviews
- Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
- Exclusive event discounts
Or get the full Premium subscription right away
Or continue reading this article for free
Alongside the two BESS, the portfolio comprises the 440MWp Culcairn solar PV plant in NSW, the 209MW Goyder South Stage 1A wind generation plant in South Australia and the 179MW Narrogin wind generation plant in WA.
Neoen has not disclosed the length of the loans, their interest rates, or how the debt will be split across the five assets, as reported by our sister site PV Tech when it covered Neoen’s AU$1.8 billion financing.
“This transaction reflects the quality and diversity of our assets and demonstrates our ability to optimise our financing structure and strengthen our balance sheet,” said Xavier Barbaro, Neoen’s group CEO.
The 13 lenders include ANZ, HSBC, Mizuho, NAB, Westpac and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), the federal government’s green investment bank.
Neoen has started building the 215MW/963MWh BESS at the Culcairn solar PV plant, sharing the plant’s grid connection. NHOA Energy is the system integrator, and commercial operations are targeted for 2028.
The roughly 4.5-hour BESS holds a long-term energy service agreement (LTESA) under the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. The solar PV plant became fully operational in May 2026 and is Neoen’s second-largest solar asset globally.
Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia came online in late 2017 and was expanded by 50MW to 150MW in 2020.
Canadian asset manager Brookfield agreed to acquire Neoen in May 2024 in a deal that valued it at €6.1 billion (US$6.81 billion). To secure competition approval in Australia, Neoen sold its Victorian assets, including the Victorian Big Battery, to HMC Capital in August 2025.
Neoen said it has raised more than AU$5 billion in debt since 2024, covering 4.7GW across 20 Australian assets, and is targeting 10GW of capacity in the country by 2030.
Frontier Energy signs AU$280 million for Waroona
Frontier Energy informed the ASX on Monday (2 November) that it had executed the syndicated debt facility for Stage One of its Waroona Renewable Energy Project, about 120km south of Perth.
The senior secured, non-recourse debt will fund construction and operation of Stage One, which pairs a 132MW solar PV plant with an 81.5MW/562MWh BESS, as PV Tech reported when Frontier signed the Waroona debt facility.
The syndicate is led by Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking (Natixis CIB) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). The facility includes a construction and term facility of up to around AU$250 million, which Frontier said qualifies under the Green Loan Principles.
Frontier said the debt, together with the AU$110 million equity placement completed in July, is expected to fully fund Stage One through to first generation in 2028.
Financial close is expected in November, subject to conditions including signing a Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) agreement with the federal government. Jamie Cullen, executive chair of Frontier, said execution of the facility “comes as site works at Stage One are ramping up”.
In May, Waroona Stage One was one of three BESS projects selected under Tender 6, as WA awarded 1.9GW of renewables and 3.7GWh of battery storage under CIS Tenders 5 and 6. Frontier said the award gives the project downside revenue protection until 2042.
The project was paused in October 2024 after missing out on Reserve Capacity Credits from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). Storage duration has since been extended to 6.9 hours to meet a 6-hour minimum under WA’s reserve capacity rules.
In September, Frontier contracted Trina Storage to supply the 562MWh BESS, with a 20-year warranty and a long-term services agreement. Western Australian contractor Monford Group holds the fixed-price engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.
Connection agreements with network operator Western Power allow exports of up to 99MW and imports of up to 95MW to charge the BESS. Frontier plans a staged build-out to around 1GW of solar PV and 660MW of battery storage by 2031.
Lightyears raises NZ$174 million for solar-plus-storage
Lightyears secured the funding from Japanese construction group Obayashi and Australian lender Infradebt, and said it will support delivery of more than 300MW of utility-scale solar PV and battery storage over the next five years.
Obayashi plans to invest NZ$74 million in stages and will take a 90% stake in LYOC1, a new company that will hold solar PV projects. Infradebt is providing a NZ$100 million lending facility for the wider Lightyears platform.
The company has not said how the pipeline is split between solar PV and battery storage, PV Tech reported when Lightyears secured the NZ$174 million from Obayashi and Infradebt.
“Obayashi and Infradebt are ideal partners to support the next phase of growth for the Lightyears energy platform,” said Matt Shanks, managing director and co-founder of Lightyears.
“New Zealand is a market we like, and we intend to be here for the long term,” said Chin-Lee Yu, co-founder and investment director of Infradebt, which first lent to Lightyears in 2025.
Lightyears’ 14MW Reefton solar PV plant on the West Coast is nearing completion, and construction is under way on the 15MW Te Aho o te Rā solar PV plant in the central North Island and a 6MW site in Ashburton.
The deal adds to overseas interest in New Zealand, including from UAE developer Masdar, which last week signed an agreement to explore up to NZ$1 billion of solar PV, wind and battery storage investment in the country.
Government figures show solar generation rose 56% year-on-year to a record 242GWh in the second quarter of 2026, overtaking coal over a rolling 12-month period for the first time.
These articles first appeared on PV Tech under the items: ‘Neoen secures AU$1.8 billion to finance 1.2GW Australian solar, wind and storage portfolio’, ‘Frontier Energy signs AU$280 million debt facility for Waroona solar-plus-storage project in Western Australia’ and ‘Lightyears secures NZ$174 million from Obayashi and Infradebt for New Zealand solar’.
Never miss an Australian energy storage story. Sign up for our Australia newsletter and get the latest project announcements, policy updates and market analysis delivered directly to you.
