Funding for the third stage of Victoria’s landmark Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub (MREH) has been secured, with King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) advising a syndicate of lenders on the A$400m project financing for the development of a 200MW/800MWh Battery Energy Storage System.
KWM advised the syndicate comprising Westpac Banking Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank, Export Development Canada and Société Générale on the project financing. The MREH project has been developed by Equis and is supported by a significant co-investment from the Victorian Government-owned State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV).
The MREH project is the first investment by the newly formed SECV and so represents a critical component of the SECV’s strategy to invest an initial $1 billion towards building 4.5 GW of new renewable energy and storage projects to accelerate the transition to green power in Victoria.
The KWM deal team was led by Partner Chris Dynon, and supported by Senior Associates Danny Ke, Emma Reed, Shubho Mukherjee and Kathryn Tomasic, and Solicitors Evelyn Kourambas, Jonathan Le and Daniel Ho.
Commenting on the deal, Partner Chris Dynon said:
“King & Wood Mallesons is proud to have advised on this very significant transaction for Equis, its financiers and other stakeholders including the SECV. The SECV’s involvement in this latest stage of the MREH project enhanced the bankability of the project and is an important step in the energy transition in Victoria more generally.”
The Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub is expected to be operational by late 2025, storing excess rooftop solar and surplus energy from the grid and providing extra power to meet Victoria’s growing demand. Once complete, it is expected to be the largest battery energy storage system in Australia and Asia, and one of the largest battery energy storage systems in the world.
