The funds will be applied to facilitate stage 3 of the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub project
King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has assisted a syndicate of lenders on a $400m financing that will facilitate stage three of the watershed Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub (MREH).
The syndicate is made up of Westpac Banking Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank, Export Development Canada and Société Générale. According to KWM, the funds will be applied to the development of a 200MW/800MWh battery energy storage system.
Equis developed the MREH project, with co-investment from the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV). KWM said that the project marks SECV’s inaugural investment, signalling a key element of the commission's strategy to allocate an initial $1bn towards the construction of 4.5GW of new renewable energy and storage projects and fast-tracking Victoria's transition to green power.
“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”, KWM lead partner Chris Dynon said.
Dynon received support from senior associates Danny Ke, Emma Reed, Shubho Mukherjee and Kathryn Tomasic as well as solicitors Evelyn Kourambas, Jonathan Le and Daniel Ho.
The MREH project is set to commence operations by late 2025 and is anticipated to be the largest battery energy storage system in both Australia and Asia.
