First stage financed for Lincoln Gap Wind Farm

Nexif Energy, an independent power producer in Australia and Southeast Asia, has reached financial close for the first stage of the Lincoln Gap Wind Farm — one of Australia’s largest private sector-initiated and -owned grid battery systems not underwritten by a government contract or funded by government grants.

Located near Port Augusta in South Australia, the Lincoln Gap Wind Farm’s $300 million, 126 MW first stage involves the construction and operation of 36 wind turbines, supported by two long-term large-scale generation certificate (LGC) agreements with ERM Power and a long-term electricity offtake agreement with Snowy Hydro. The project also includes installation of a utility-scale battery system of 10 MW, capable of producing up to 10 MWh of fast response storage capacity, with potential expansion capability to utilise battery technology advancements.

Once complete, the wind farm will house 59 turbines and produce 212 MW of electricity, which is enough to power approximately 155,000 homes. It will feed into the state’s electricity grid via the ElectraNet transmission network.

Lincoln Gap will be constructed under the terms of a turnkey contract with Senvion Australia. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will act as financier, lending up to $150 million for construction of stage one. Investec has meanwhile provided facilities totalling $39 million for working capital and letters of credit.

“This project demonstrates how we can move to the next phase of the clean energy transition, delivering a cleaner, reliable and affordable energy supply, by incorporating the latest technology at the greenfield development stage to create a stronger, more integrated grid,” said CEFC wind sector lead Andrew Gardner.

“This is the first development project in Australia which has been able to secure debt finance for a grid-connected large-scale battery component on a non-subsidised basis. It provides an important financing model for other developers and investors wanting to be at the forefront of closer integration of renewables into the grid.”

The project is also set to feature the first turbines from Senvion’s 3.XM range to be installed in Australia. The Senvion 3.6M140 EBC turbine is designed for moderate and strong wind speeds to enable optimised load management even in challenging wind conditions.

“This is a significant milestone for Senvion and we are very excited about introducing the Senvion 3.6M140 turbine to Australia,” said Senvion Australia CEO and Managing Director Raymond Gilfedder. “This technology is very well suited to the Australian market, and will ensure that the wind farm will continue to be a high-performing asset for the coming decades.”

Zeki Akbas from Nexif Energy Australia said construction of the wind farm is expected to begin by the end of November and will take 12 to 18 months.

“We are pleased to include grid-scale battery storage as an essential part of the wind farm investment and were happy to receive strong support and encouragement from the CEFC as our investment partner,” Akbas said. “With the scalable battery storage at Lincoln Gap we will be able to offer more flexibility to the national grid and improve the reliability of the system.”

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