News

Naturgy signs with Snowy Hydro its first energy sales contract with a retailer in Australia to build a 218 MW wind farm in Victoria, contributing to increase its installed capacity in the country over 500 MW

• Naturgy doubles its presence in Australia, becoming the Top-3 independent wind energy producer in the country and confirming its commitment to renewables growth in Australia through its subsidiary Global Power Generation (GPG).

• Ryan Corner is the third project developed by GPG in Australia and the first one under a Corporate PPA. The project will entail a total investment of AUD359m, equivalent to approximately €219m.

Snowy Hydro and GPG announced today an agreement to build a 218 MW wind farm located in Victoria, approximately 300 km from Melbourne.

The wind farm, called Ryan Corner, is estimated to require a total investment of AUD359m (equivalent to approximately €219m) and is expected to start operations in the second half 2022.

The contract awarded consists of a 15 years PPA contract for difference (power purchase agreement) for 75% of the energy produced. Given the characteristics of the awarded contract and the conditions of the Australian market, one of the most attractive countries to invest in renewables, the project fully complies with the investment and profitability criteria required by Naturgy for value creation.

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Ryan Corner wind farm will be Naturgy’s third investment in Australia, through GPG. Including this project, Naturgy will reach a renewable capacity over 500 MW in the region, together with the Crookwell 2 wind farm (96 MW) currently in operation, and the Berrybank Stage-1 (180 MW) wind farm, close to be operational.

Naturgy is finalizing the permitting of various renewable projects in Australia, which could involve the development of more than 400 MW additional capacity, increasing by 150% its current installed capacity in the country, while becoming the Top-2 independent wind energy producer in Australia. The company has a project pipeline of more than 600 MW in the country and aims to become one of the main independent renewable operators in Australia in the next three years, reaching a total capacity of more than 1.3 GW.

About Global Power Generation (GPG)

Global Power Generation (GPG) is the Naturgy Energy Group’s subsidiary dedicated to international power generation, which is 25% owned by the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the oldest sovereign fund in the world. KIA’s interest in GPG is managed by the KIA’s direct infrastructure platform, Wren House Infrastructure Management. GPG manages a total installed capacity of 4,100 MW and employs around 800 people worldwide.

The Berrybank wind farm in Australia continues its progress, reaching the milestone of the first installed wind turbine on Wednesday March 11.

This was the first of 43 wind turbines of 4.2 MW with 136 meters of rotor and hub height of 112 meters, the assembly of which will be completed in July, with the wind farm expected to be at 100% production by the end of August 2020 .

The Berrybank wind farm, located in the state of Victoria, will be the first wind farm the Group has in this state of Australia . Its implementation will provide a clear boost to the position that GPG is taking in this country as a leader in renewable energy, where it already has the Crookwell 2 wind farm, which has completed its first year of operation meeting all expectations.

Lismore Water Tower Project has been recently completed near Berrybank, where the wind farm is being constructed.

The local artist, Jimmi Buscombe, who rose to fame when a video about his “Gutsy the Wombat” mural had 58 million views on Facebook, has now completed a large mural on a water tower constructed in 1940 in Lismore with the aim to provide a reasonable supply of water to that township. This project consisting in the transformation of the Lismore water tower into an amazing piece of artwork has turned into a tourist attraction.

The mural on the 20m tall concrete water tower has taken approximately 3 weeks to complete. The mural has sheep, brolgas and native plants set in a misty south west landscape from the area. The artist has estimated that he has used 120 litres of paint which has been applied by a handheld sprayer and the detail work completed by brush.

This local art project was made possible due to the funding provided by Global Power Generation and Corangamite Shire Council. It is one of the fifteen local community projects that GPG Australia agreed to fund through the agreement signed with the Corangamite Shire Council as part of its commitments under the Community Engagement and Benefit Sharing Plan associated to Berrybank 1 Wind Farm.

Our EPC Contractor for this project, Vestas, and its partner, Marand Precision Engineering, have commenced production in the wind turbine assembly facility in Geelong.

Together with Marand, Vestas has fulfilled a significant milestone for its new wind turbine assembly facility in Geelong. The facility has commenced production of Drive-trains and Hubs, that will be produced and tested at the facility. Parts of these products are bound for the Berrybank Wind Farm in Western Victoria, awarded under the Victorian Renewable Energy Auction.

Located at the former Ford Motor Company manufacturing site on the Princes Highway in Geelong, the facility is part of the Vestas Renewable Energy Hub (the Hub), a multi-disciplinary industry development initiative designed to support the Victorian Renewable Energy Target and Victoria’s New Energy Technologies strategy.

“I am pleased to see our Geelong facility commence production on schedule. This milestone could not have been achieved without the skills and experience of our local manufacturing service provider Marand,” said Peter Cowling, Head of Vestas Australia and New Zealand, “Vestas is extremely proud to be generating local business and job opportunities, providing new skills in the local work force and building Geelong as Australia’s new renewable energy hub.”

“Marand is happy to celebrate this important milestone with Vestas,” said Marand CEO Rohan Stocker. “We are leveraging our extensive manufacturing expertise and business systems, as well as growing our capability in the wind turbine assembly area.”

In addition to the wind turbine assembly facility, the Hub also includes four other initiatives:

1.Establishing the Western Victorian Service Support Centre to service the growing Vestas turbine fleet in Western Victoria;

2.Entering into a multi-year partnership with Federation University’s Ballarat Renewable Training Centre to deliver training and employment opportunities for wind turbine technicians;

3.Establishing the Vestas Australian Main Component Logistics Centre in Geelong, a specialist facility for the largest turbine spare parts;

4.Forming a partnership with Deakin University’s Carbon Nexus to research the next generation carbon fibre to use in making wind turbine blades longer, stronger and more productive.

Berrybank Development P/L (Global Power Generation Australia Pty Ltd) has officially marked the start of construction of Stage 1 of the 43 Turbine Berrybank Wind Farm with having hosted our Sod-Turning Ceremony which took place on Friday 21st June 2019. This event was attended This event was attended The Hon. Daniel Andrews MP; Premier of Victoria, and The Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio MP; Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, and Michaela Settle MP; Member for Buninyong, representatives from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Global Power Generation and our Contractors, Landowners and neighbours, and local community members.

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Global Power Generation Australia (GPG) has partnered with Vestas Australian Wind Technology and MPC Kinetic and are pleased to announce that Construction has now begun on Stage 1 of the Berrybank Wind Farm, the 43 Wind Turbine Stage 1 has an expected completion date for construction to be September 2020.

Construction of the internal access roads commenced on 17^th April 2019, the bench for a temporary concrete batching plant has been installed, and we plan to start wind turbine foundation excavations by the end of the first week in May.

We expect to have the internal access track to the proposed new substation and site office compound completed by the end of April, for construction to begin at the start of May for both pieces of infrastructure.

We are expecting that the Turbine components will begin to arrive at site starting in August, these components will both be coming from Geelong and Portland. A schedule will be made public and distributed in advance to prevent any significant delays or impacts.

GPG would also like to announce that we have employed a Local Resident Mr. Nathan Micallef of Lismore to the position of Community Engagement Officer who will be based at the Site Office Full Time and he will be working with landholders, neighbours, council and local communities through the construction and operation of the development. You can contact Nathan at Nathan.Micallef@unionfenosa.com.au

GPG makes the first steps in the fulfillment of its Local Investment Plan (LIP) in relation to the Berrybank wind farm project in Australia

As our EPC and O&M Contractor for the Berrybank project, Vestas has entered into two important partnerships in relation with this Local Investment Plan:

• One of them in February with Marand Precision Engineering for the assembly of the wind turbines hubs and drive trains of the project in Vestas´ new wind turbine manufacturing facility in Geelong, 85 km far from the site of our project. This partnership will allow Vestas to bring its world-class wind turbine sourcing, assembly and testing capabilities to Victoria, thereby supporting and expanding the Victorian renewable energy sector.
• The second one with Deakin University this month in order to develop a research project that will seek carbon fibre composites to improve efficiency and drive down the cost of wind turbines. Turbine blades are now the largest single use for carbon fibre, accounting for over 40 per cent of global production. This partnership represents a powerful combination that will position Geelong and Victoria at the forefront of wind energy innovation and commercialisation.

This Local Investment Plan forms part of the commitments under the long term power purchase agreement awarded by the State of Victoria last August in the Victorian Renewable Energy Targets (VRET) 2017 Reverse Auction.

Both initiatives are comprised within the `Vestas Renewable Energy Hub´ (VREH) that our contractor has committed to develop in Geelong. This hub concept has been developed driven by its strong existing presence in Victoria and the new market opportunities presented as a result of the Victorian Renewable Energy Action Plan and the New Energy Technologies Sector Strategy. It will involve the investment of approximately AUD3MM by Vestas and directly employment of 21 employees.

The VREH is designed to be scaled sustainably, as the VRET expands Victoria’s renewable energy market out to 2025, and to address every aspect of the Wind Power value chain. The VREH will build Victorian industry capability in Wind Turbine Machine Assembly, Subcomponent Supply, Wind Farm Maintenance, Logistics and Advanced Materials and

Manufacturing Science, through the implementation of 5 initiatives:

• Western Victorian Service Support Centre
• Australian Main Component Logistics and Maintenance Centre
• Wind Turbine Manufacturing Facility (hubs and drive trains assembly by Marand)
• Wind Turbine Technician Training – Federation University
• Wind Carbon Research Partnership – Deakin University

Amendment Applications on Public Exhibition

The Crookwell 2 Wind Farm Modification Application (Mod-2) and the Crookwell 3 Wind Farm Addendum to existing proposed Application are both on Public Exhibition from Tuesday 11th October 2016 to Monday 14th November 2016. The amendments generally include a change in turbine size and reduction in number of turbines in the layout.