AGL sells Australia’s largest PV plants to Powering Australian Renewables Fund

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Credit: AGL

Australian power firm AGL Energy (AGL) has sold its 102MW Nyngan and 53MW Broken Hill solar plants to the Powering Australian Renewables Fund (PARF) for AU$257 million (US$194 million).

In July, AGL partnered Australian investment manager QIC and its clients the Future Fund and the QIC Global Infrastructure Fund to create the PARF fund, which aims to fulfil up to 20% of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) for 2020.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

To achieve this, the goal is to own AU$2-3 billion worth of large-scale renewable energy projects totalling more than 1GW in combined capacity.

The two solar farms represent the PARF scheme’s first ever acquisition. AGL is writing a long-term offtake agreement with the Nyngan and Broken Hill plants as part of the sale.

Westpac, NAB, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and BNP Paribas have all acted as lenders to the transaction.

AGL managing director and chief executive Andy Vesey said: “We’re very encouraged by the level of interest and calibre of lenders wanting to get involved in the PARF. AGL created the Fund to help kick-start the investment deadlock in renewable projects by providing an innovative financing platform where like-minded organisations can share the investment risk over the medium- to long-term.

He added: “The PARF has acquired the Nyngan and Broken Hill solar plants as seed assets ahead of schedule and we’re confident of announcing the first new renewable project build ahead of our original March 2017 target as well.”

QIC and AGL plan to continue growing their renewable energy asset portfolio through their special PARF fund. AGL’s two planned wind farms in Silverton, New South Wales, and Coopers Gap, Queensland, are expected to be the next two projects offered to the Fund.

At the offset, AGL provided AU$200 million in equity funding to the PARF, while QIC provided AU$800 million on behalf of its clients.

In order for Australia to handle large amounts of renewables on the grid, Vesey said there may be a need for renewable projects “to contract with firm and flexible thermal plants to provide a ‘virtual power plant’ that is largely renewable, but also firm and can be called upon when needed.”

Read Next

September 1, 2025
Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) hit a record high for the combined utility-scale solar PV and wind share in the electricity mix on 30 August.
August 31, 2025
Renewables developer and independent power producer (IPP) TagEnergy has acquired Australian developer ACE Power, adding 6GW of renewable energy and storage projects to its portfolio.
August 31, 2025
Two CIS tenders have opened in Western Australia, seeking 1.6GW of renewable energy generation in the Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM).
August 28, 2025
Developer Pacific Energy has successfully commissioned a 26MW solar-plus-storage site at the Atlas-Campaspe mine in NSW, Australia.
August 26, 2025
The Australian Government’s CER approved 56 new power stations, with 797MW of renewable energy capacity, in July this year.
August 22, 2025
The Australian Renewables Income Fund (ARIF), a renewable energy fund managed by Foresight Group, has raised AU$700 million (US$779 million) in a debt refinancing transaction.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines