Norton Rose Fulbright advises on Australia’s largest integrated solar farm battery storage project

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised international energy company WIRCON GmbH, owners of Wirsol Energy, on the development and acquisition of the Gannawarra Energy Storage System in the state of Victoria in Australia.

The Gannawarra system is a 25MW / 50MWh Tesla Powerpack battery that will be integrated with the 50MW Gannawarra Solar Farm located near Kerang in north-west Victoria. It will be the first integrated solar and storage project in Victoria, the largest of its kind in Australia, and able to power around 800 homes for 24 hours.

The project was developed by Edify Energy and is jointly owned by Edify Energy and Wirsol Energy.

It is supported by the Victorian Government and independent federal government agency ARENA (or the Australian Renewable Energy Agency). It also features a first-of-a-kind commercial services agreement with EnergyAustralia, the offtaker for the Gannawarra Solar Farm.

Norton Rose Fulbright global head of energy Simon Currie led the deal and commented:

“It is great to see Wirsol, along with ARENA and the Victorian Government, support this important addition to the state’s future energy security mix. Our team was also pleased to deliver yet another important Australian renewable energy project, and to continue to develop its energy storage capability.”

Simon Currie was supported in Sydney by partner Raymond Lou, special counsel Claire Forster, and associates Chris Sewry and Tom Bramah.

Norton Rose Fulbright has a track record of advising clients on energy storage solutions, having recently also advised on the Lakeland integrated facility in Queensland.

Our energy team is also currently working on over 30 large scale solar projects across Australia. Our clients that have developed or acquired large scale solar PV projects in Australia in 2017 include Wirsol Energy, Blackrock, Enel, DIF, RES, Clenergy, Maoneng and Canadian Solar.

The firm is a leading global advisor on renewable energy and project finance as well, and has advised clients on corporate PPA deals across Australia and around the world, such as its advice in recent months to the University of NSW on an innovative long term renewable energy PPA.

For more information, contact:

Alex Boxsell, Head of Digital Content & Campaigns, Norton Rose Fulbright in Australia
Tel: +61 (0)2 9330 8165 Mob: +61 (0)414 985 556
alex.boxsell@nortonrosefulbright.com