Beijing Energy Group Takes Australian Renewable Portfolio Past 2GW With Acquisition of Lightsource Bp Assets

 Sydney, Australia | Beijing Energy International (Australia) Holding Pty Ltd (BJEI Australia) today confirmed it has agreed to terms with Lightsource bp to acquire a portfolio of five solar farm projects across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

The acquisition of the five-project portfolio, which has an equity value of A$813 million, also includes the opportunity to develop co-located battery energy storage system (BESS) projects at each site, which are planned to be of two-hour duration.

Three of the five projects, Wellington South, West Wyalong and Woolooga, have all commenced operation with a generation capacity of up to 200MWp, 108MWp and 214MWp, respectively.

The remaining two projects, Wellington North and Wunghnu, with a generation capacity of up to 425MWp and 90MWp, respectively, are expected to complete construction and commence operations in the second half of 2024.

Combined, the portfolio of assets is expected to produce approximately 2,230GWh of clean energy annually, which equates to more than 380,000 households powered, avoiding over 1,695,000 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Subject to regulatory approval, the acquisition, which will be undertaken by BJEI Australia, Wollar Solar Holding Pty Ltd and two special purpose vehicles, will take the Beijing Energy group’s Australian portfolio of renewable energy generation and storage assets, to over 2GW
in planned, under construction and operational projects.

Chairman of the Australian Board, The Hon Warwick Smith AO, said: “The acquisition further underpins BJEI Australia’s commitment to the Australian renewable energy market.

“Since 2014, the Beijing Energy group has built a significant renewable energy portfolio that supports Australia’s energy transition and powers more than 325,000 homes across Australia every day, which offsets approximately 1.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year.” Purchasing these five assets is an exciting next step in the Beijing Energy group’s growth in Australia and complements its current portfolio of solar and wind projects.

“It is also part of a long-term strategy to build a renewable energy portfolio of size that can be taken to the Australian Securities Exchange in 2024 and be majority owned by the Australian public. Delivering a renewable energy company of this size and scale to the Australian market will allow for the continued growth of the business and for the Australian public to share in the long-term success of the company moving forward.”

The acquisition of the Lightsource bp assets builds on the Beijing Energy group’s more than A$1.5 billion worth of investment in the Australian renewable energy market since 2014.

Over nearly a decade of operation in Australia, the Beijing Energy group has delivered connected and under-construction solar and wind projects in New South Wales and Victoria. It also reinforces the Beijing Energy group’s commitment to supporting the Australian

Government’s target of 82% renewables to the grid by 2030.Rothschild & Co acted as financial adviser and King & Wood Mallesons acted as legal adviser to BJEI Australia in relation to the transaction.

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