NEXIF ENERGY REACHES FULL COMMERCIAL OPERATION AT LINCOLN GAP WIND FARM AND CLOSES A$397 MILLION REFINANCING OF ITS AUSTRALIAN PORTFOLIO OF WIND AND FIRMING GENERATION
Nexif Energy, the Australian and South East Asian power company, backed by Denham Capital today announced that its Lincoln Gap Wind Farm has achieved full commercial operations. It has also closed the refinancing of its 366MW Australia portfolio under a single portfolio financing facility.
A lending group comprising KfW, SMBC and Westpac have completed a refinancing package of A$397 million for term loan, working capital and letter of credit facilities which consolidates the three existing separate debt facilities in place for the portfolio’s construction.
The refinancing was timed to take advantage of the transition of the portfolio from construction to operations with both stages of the 212MW Lincoln Gap Wind Farm now in full commercial operations and Nexif Energy’s 154MW Snapper Point gas fired peaking power station in advanced commissioning.
The Lincoln Gap Wind Farm, located near Port Augusta in South Australia, will operate for the next 25 years, providing green, clean energy with the capacity to power 155,000 homes across South Australia. Snapper Point will support the provisions of electricity off-take contracts from the Lincoln Gap Wind Farm and will feed into the national electricity market.
Nexif Founder and Co-CEO, Matthew Bartley said: “We welcome our new financing partners and their support of our integrated portfolio model to offer firm baseload style contracts from renewable energy generated from our Lincoln Gap Wind Farm project backed by dispatchable generation at Snapper Point. With the construction complete of the current portfolio, our focus is now on implementing our plan to double the wind farm and 10MW battery project from its existing 222MW to 474MW through the addition of a further 252MW of wind capacity through a planned expansion.”
Fellow Nexif Founder and Co-CEO Surender Singh added: “Nexif Energy appreciates the support and confidence of our outgoing financiers, CEFC, Westbourne and Investec. They have played an important role in bringing to fruition this one-of-a-kind combination of interrelated projects comprised of renewable energy generation supported by battery storage and fast response gas turbines. We look forward to working with them again in the future.”
Denham Capital Managing Director Saurabh Anand commented: “Nexif Energy has continued to go from strength to strength and today’s announcements represent two more important milestones. The close of the refinancing process positions Nexif Energy strongly for its next phase of expansion with its strong pipeline of South East Asian and Australian development projects. The Lincoln Gap Wind Farm is an example of Nexif Energy’s ability to execute the kind of projects which will positively impact stakeholders across the region. We appreciate the lending group’s strong endorsement of the Australia portfolio and the integrated model.”