Frontier Energy, an Australian clean energy project developer, secured A$215 million (~$142.42 million) in senior project debt financing for developing the Waroona Renewable Energy Project (WERP) with Infradebt, an Australian infrastructure fund manager. The funding will support the construction and operation of Stage One of the WERP, a solar plus storage project.
The WERP is located 120 km (74.5 miles) south of Perth. Stage 1 of the project includes a 120 MW solar farm coupled with an 80 MW/360 MWh battery energy storage system.
The facility’s tenure is 17 years, including the two-year construction period. A long-form facility agreement and security documentation will be executed in September 2024.
Leeuwin Capital Partners advised Frontier Energy on the transaction. The Definitive Feasibility Study of Stage One of the project conducted in February 2024 estimated the total cost at A$304 million (~$201.37 million).
CEO Adam Kiley commented: “The Company is delighted to mandate Infradebt, an Australian based infrastructure specialist, to provide debt financing of up to $215 million for the development of Stage One of our Waroona Project. The Company received multiple credit endorsed proposals as part of the debt financing process from several major financial institutions, however, the Infradebt offer was superior, with a highly attractive tenor and interest rate, whilst also providing greater flexibility compared to alternatives. Infradebt’s proposal is also for 100% of the debt financing, meaning the Company will only deal with a single party compared to a syndicate solution.”
According to Mercom’s 1H and Q2 2024 Solar Funding and M&A report, large-scale project funding in 1H 2024 came to $19.9 billion in 117 deals compared to $14.9 billion in 113 deals in 1H 2023.
Last week, Leeward Renewable Energy (LRE), a developer of solar, wind, and energy storage projects, announced the closing of a $1.25 billion construction warehouse facility. The warehouse provides three years of committed capital to fund a multi-year building plan of advanced and construction-ready projects from LRE’s development pipeline.
