MPower Group, a developer of turn-key solar, battery storage, and microgrid projects, completed the acquisition of the Lakeland solar+storage project.
Located in Cooktown Shire, North Queensland, the Lakeland project comprises a 10.8 MWac solar farm and an associated 1.4 MWac/5.3 MWh lithium-ion battery storage facility.
Through its acquisition of the Lakeland project, MPower expects to generate annual revenues of around A$1.8 million (~$1.2 million) from the sale of energy and large-scale generation certificates (LGCs) to a blue-chip counterparty.
The transaction has an enterprise value of A$8 million (~$5.7 million), with deferred consideration for the project of up to A$0.35 million (~$0.24 million) over three years following completion, and the assumption of an existing A$7.66 million (~$5.4 million) limited recourse long-term debt facility in place with a German bank, NORD/LB.
MPower expects Lakeland to contribute around A$800,000 (~$570,000) in annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), before introducing additional cost-saving measures.
MPower will focus on achieving operational improvements and will look to upgrade existing project infrastructure, including implementing the company’s proprietary solutions to control and monitor renewable energy projects.
The Project Marks the company’s entry into Queensland, further expanding its market footprint, which currently includes development sites in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.
Earlier this month, Exus Brasil Investimentos, an asset manager of Exus Management Partners, signed a deal to acquire 100% shares of the Riacho da Serra project in Piauí (Brazil) from Decal Renewables and Upside Value, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions precedent. The project comprises 20 solar projects with a total capacity of 1,058 MW.
According to Mercom’s 1H 2022 report, there were 66 large-scale solar project acquisitions in Q2 2022 compared to 82 transactions in Q1 2022.
Recently, Gresham House, an asset manager, has acquired two fully permitted solar and battery energy storage projects from Canadian Solar, a vertically integrated manufacturer of silicon ingots, wafers, and PV cells and modules. The two projects comprise a collocated solar and battery energy storage project in Durham, with 50 MW solar capacity and 38 MW (or 76 MWh) of battery energy storage, and a standalone solar project in Warwickshire of 28 MWp.
