Fin close reached on Ratch-Australia's 227-MW Collector wind project

Ratch-Australia Corporation Pty Ltd (RAC) has achieved financial close on the 227-MW Collector Wind Farm in New South Wales after securing funds from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).

CEFC, Australia’s state-owned green bank, said on Thursday it has made an investment commitment of AUD 180 million (USD 124.8m/EUR 112.1m) for the project. This allowed financial close to be reached on a fully merchant basis. CEFC is the sole debt financier of the AUD-360-million project, according to the statement.

"Finance for fully merchant projects unlocks further wind sector opportunities and builds confidence in their longer-term commercial potential," said CEFC Wind Sector lead Andrew Gardner.

To be located in the Southern Tablelands, near Goulburn, the Collector wind park will be powered by 54 of Vestas’ V117-4.2 MW turbines. These will be producing around 528 GWh per year, or enough to supply 80,000 average local homes.

Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems A/S (CPH:VWS) has been chosen as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. The park is slated to begin commercial operations in the second half of 2020.

As part of the agreement with CEFC, Ratch-Australia will install battery storage capacity at its 42.5 MW Collinsville solar park in Queensland to improve the grid stability in the region. This project is also supported by CEFC as part of a previous agreement.

CEFC has invested nearly AUD 1 billion in Australian wind projects with a combined capacity of 2 GW, the green bank said.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.693/EUR 0.623)

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