Equis closes financing on 127MW solar project in South Australia

Singapore-based renewables firm Equis Energy has achieved financial close on the 127MW Tailem Bend Solar Project in South Australia, which has a reserved area to hold a battery storage installation of up to 100MWh in the future.

Construction is due to commence in February 2018 and the US$200m project, located 100 kilometres southeast of Adelaide, is expected to begin delivering power to the grid in Q1 2019.

Equis has signed a 22-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Australian energy firm Snowy Hydro for the project, which will supply power equivalent to the annual needs of 41,600 households.

David Russell, Equis Energy director, said: “Australia represents one of the most exciting solar power generation markets globally and Equis expects to build over US$1 billion of new projects over the next 24-36 months.”

Equis is also developing Tailem Bend 2, a 111MW solar project adjacent to Tailem Solar, which is expected to commence construction in late 2018.

The two Tailem Bend solar projects will have a combined generation output of approximately 413,000MWh per year.

Last month, fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and its co-investors closed on their acquisition of 100% of the equity interest in Equis Energy, in what was the largest renewable energy generation deal in history.

Tags: equis, south australia, tailem, solar-plus-storage, battery storage