King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has advised on the negotiation and preparation of two Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in relation to the Bomen Solar Farm in NSW. KWM advised both the offtakers, Westpac Group (Westpac) and Flow Power, on a corporate Power Purchase Agreement and wholesale Power Purchase Agreement respectively.
Energy retailer Flow Power will take 69 MW of the 120 MW generated by the farm, with Westpac to take an additional 31 MW.
The output purchased by Flow Power will be on-sold to two major Australian food and beverage businesses on shorter term corporate PPAs to deliver low cost solar power. Westpac's purchase will help the major Australian bank deliver on its commitment to source the equivalent of 100 per cent of its global electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2025.
The KWM team advising Flow Power was led by Partner, Dominic Bortoluzzi, who was supported by Senior Associate, Jonathan Mitchell and Solicitor, Amanda Seethor. The team advising Westpac was led by Partner, Vishal Ahuja, who was supported by Solicitor, Shirley Cheng.
Commenting on the deal, Dominic said: "We were pleased to have advised Flow Energy in growing their renewable portfolio. We are definitely seeing a market for larger purchases by energy retailers who are able to offer shorter term and lesser agreements to smaller energy consumers in Australia, a trend which shows no sign of slowing down."
"These agreements demonstrate the increased appetite for PPA's in Australia and the high level of enthusiasm of a number of corporates to grow the percentage of their renewable energy consumption. It was great to assist Westpac in reaching this milestone," Vishal added.
Collectively, the agreements underwrote the development of the Bomen Solar Farm, which is due to be operational this year.
