In a market announcement, energy generating and retailing major AGL confirmed it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Sydney-based solar developer Terrain Solar and battery energy storage specialist Firm Power in a deal worth about AUD 250 million ($165.5 million).
The transaction will deliver AGL, which operates Australia’s largest private electricity generation portfolio within the National Electricity Market (NEM), a project solar and battery storage development pipeline with a combined 8.1 GW of capacity.
This includes six large-scale solar projects with a combined capacity of 1.8 GW being developed by Terrain. Most of this capacity is in Queensland which is home to 1.1 GW of the PV portfolio while the company has 500 MW in development in New South Wales (NSW). Terrain also has smaller solar projects in development in Western Australia (WA) and South Australia (SA).
The purchase of Firm Power is to add a total of 6.1 GW of grid-scale battery energy storage projects to AGL’s portfolio with the group’s development pipeline including 21 mid-sized battery projects, ranging between 200 MW and 500 MW and two- to eight-hours storage duration.
Again, much of the capacity is in Queensland (2.7 GW) while there is 2.3 GW in New South Wales. There is also 500 MW of capacity under development in Western Australia, and 300 MW in both Victoria and South Australia.
The transaction also includes the acquisition of a 250 MW wind farm project in New South Wales.
AGL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Damien Nicks said the purchase will support the company’s transition away from coal-fired power generation to backed-up renewables.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to grow and accelerate our development pipeline, which is already 6.2 GW, so that AGL is best placed to take advantage of market conditions and prioritise developments that generate the best long-term value and be a leader in the energy transition,” he said. “We believe this high-quality development pipeline presents strong optionality for AGL, focusing on firming capacity which will be required to firm new renewable generation for our customer base and portfolio as thermal baseload generation exits the [National Electricity Market].”
Nicks said AGL already has already made good progress on its ambition to build and operate a leading battery energy storage portfolio in the National Electricity Market with 800 MW of grid-scale batteries in operation or under construction.
The 250 MW/250 MWh Torrens Island battery in South Australia and the 50 MW/50 MWh Broken Hill battery in New South Wales became operational in August 2023 and August 2024 respectively, and construction has commenced on the 500 MW/1,000 MWh Liddell battery being built in New South Wales.
It is also developing the 500 MW/2,000 MWh Tomago battery on the New South Wales Central Coast in addition to other big battery projects in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland.
AGL said its proposed acquisition of firm Power and Terrain Solar is subject to customary conditions, with completion anticipated before the end of the year.
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