UPC/AC buys into Australia’s Baroota

By Lenie Lectura – August 14, 2019
from Business Mirror

UPC\AC Renewables Australia, the partnership between AC Energy Inc. and UPC Renewables of Australia, is acquiring a 51-percent interest in the Baroota Pumped Hydro and the Bridle Track Solar Farm projects in Australia.

UPC\AC Renewables entered into a conditional share purchase agreement with Rise Renewables, the power arm of conglomerate Ayala Corp. said Tuesday.

Under the terms of the agreement, UPC\AC Renewables intends to accelerate remaining development, fund construction and to retain long-term ownership of the two projects.

“We just signed a couple of days ago to develop pumped hydro for Australia. We’re also looking at whether it makes sense to add batteries. That’s pumped hydro, which would complement renewables very well. That one, hopefully, we can get to NTP [notice to proceed] in the next six months,” said AC Energy International Chief Operating Officer Patrice Clausse.

Baroota Pumped Hydro will consist of 2 x 125-megawatt (MW) units and the construction of upper storage, penstock, pipeline and power station with the utilization of the existing SA Water Baroota Reservoir as lower storage.   The Baroota Pumped Hydro project is located strategically in the Mid North of South Australia and within 1 kilometer of the 275-kV Bungama to Davenport transmission line.

The Bridle Track Solar farm project has approval for 300 MW located next to the Baroota Pumped Hydro project. Both projects will share a connection point to the 275 kilovolt (kV) Bungama to Davenport transmission line.

In 2018, AC Energy partnered with UPC Renewables,which is developing the 1000MW Robbins Island and Jim’s Plain wind power projects in North West Tasmania, and the 600MW New England solar farm near Uralla in New South Wales.

“Australia is an interesting market because the resource is fairly rich, capacity factor there is high and then spot prices there remain elevated since 2016 to 2017. The coal plants there are becoming less and less reliable as they reach technical life. I think this is really an era of renewables for Australia,”said AC Energy president Eric Francia.

UPC\AC Renewables sees the Baroota Pumped Hydro Project as a leading example of low-cost long hours energy storage providing firm generation that is needed in South Australia as well as in the wider National Electricity Market (NEM).

The capability of the pumped hydro project will provide a valuable contribution to UPC\AC Renewables development portfolio across the NEM.

UPC\AC Renewables CEO Anton Rohner said the projects fit well with other developments across the NEM in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania to achieve a balanced portfolio of reliable renewable generation in the NEM.

“We will now focus on an accelerated timeline to financial close and issuing NTP with construction starting soon thereafter. We are aiming to have the 250 MW of capacity operational by the summer of 2023, the first expected summer without the Liddell power station,” said Rohner.