DLA Piper advises Solar United Network on project financing of the Merredin solar farm

Global law firm DLA Piper has advised Singapore-based Solar United Network Pte. Ltd. on the project financing of the Merredin solar farm.

“We were pleased to act on the project financing for such a significant renewable energy asset for the state Western Australia and Australia more generally” said Perth-based Owen Alcorn, Partner (Finance, Projects & Restructuring), DLA Piper.

The 132MWDC operating solar farm is located approximately 260 kilometres east of Perth in the Central Wheatbelt region.

“The project financing shows the role Western Australia can play in the transition to renewable energy generation and underscores the continuing appetite for Lenders to finance renewables projects within Western Australia” Owen said.

DLA Piper's cross-practice team included Finance, Projects and Restructuring (FP&R), Corporate, and Real Estate. The team was led by Owen Alcorn (Partner) and comprised Chris Mitchell (Partner, Corporate), Alex Regan (Partner, Finance), Eagul Faigen (Partner, Real Estate), Madison Alexeeff (Senior Associate, Real Estate), Marnie Calli (Senior Associate, Corporate), Lisa Huynh (Solicitor, FP&R), Harry Lacoste (Solicitor, Finance), Joanne Lim (Solicitor, FP&R), and Jason Duryea (Paralegal, FP&R).

“This transaction is also a great example of the capabilities of the firm in advising on project finance transactions in the energy transition and renewable energy sectors,” Owen said.

Financial close of this matter follows a steady stream of market leading transactions and projects that our team is working on across the energy and infrastructure sectors in support of Australia's push towards net zero. This includes our role in:

• Advising ENGIE on the development, construction and financing of the first phase of Project Yuri, which will feed renewable hydrogen into Yara’s existing ammonia plant in the Pilbara, Western Australia;
• Advising BlackRock Real Assets on its commitment to investing more than $1 billion to drive the build-out of 1GW of battery energy storage systems across Australia through the acquisition of the impressive Akaysha Energy.

Grant Samuel acted as financial adviser to Solar United Network Pte. Ltd..

Media contact: Nicholas Davy, 0437 036 369