Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (Quinbrook), a specialist global investment manager focused exclusively on the infrastructure needed for the energy transition, has closed a ~$450 million (AUD$722 million) new debt financing for stages 1 and 2 of its Supernode battery storage project in Queensland, marking Australia’s largest stand-alone battery energy storage system (BESS) project financing to date.
Supernode is strategically located adjacent to the central node of the electricity network in Queensland and is one of the largest BESS projects under construction in Australia on an energy capacity basis.
Quinbrook has secured long-term offtake agreements with Origin Energy for Stages 1 and 2 for a combined BESS nameplate capacity of 520 MW / 1856 MWhs. Quinbrook is also planning the addition of Stage 3, which will bring the combined site to a nameplate capacity of 760 MW / 3096 MWhs.
Brian Restall, Managing Director and Regional Leader Australia, Quinbrook, said: “We are very pleased with the successful close of this financing which reflects the robust qualities of the Supernode project as structured by our team, especially the offtake partnership we have agreed with Origin Energy. We are grateful for the strong support received from both our existing and new financing partners who recognize the critical role that large scale storage investments provide in supporting Queensland and the wider National Electricity Market as the energy transition accelerates.”
The financing has been provided by a syndicate of banks comprising Bank of America, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Deutsche Bank, Mizuho Bank and MUFG Bank, Ltd.
Given its unique location at the central node of the Queensland power system, the Supernode BESS will be able to efficiently store surplus solar energy generated at any time of day in the Sunshine State and “time-shift” that stored solar energy to evening peak periods well after the sun has set ensuring the most efficient use of Queensland’s abundant solar power resource.
Quinbrook was advised by ICA Partners (finance), Norton Rose Fulbright (legal), Aurecon (technical). The lenders were advised by Allens (legal), RINA (technical), Lockton Companies Australia (insurance), KPMG (tax) and Aurora Energy Research (market).