ING Australia today announced the financing of a major new battery energy storage system (BESS) for Vena Energy Australia in Queensland. The battery will be capable of storing 150 megawatt hours of energy, equivalent to powering up to 57,000 Australian homes. ING acted as the Technical Bank on the transaction.
Once operational, the $120 million Wandoan South BESS will be Queensland's biggest battery project, and the second largest in Australia. The BESS will deliver services to AGL and will be built in the Western Downs region, an area with significant activity in green field renewable energy development.
ING Australia Head of Wholesale Banking, Charles Ho says:
"We congratulate Vena Energy Australia on adding this strategic project to their Australian renewable energy portfolio and we are proud to provide funding support."
"ING has committed more than A$1.2bn to green financing and renewable projects in Australia."
"ING has a strong commitment to financing the Australian energy sector and to helping clients in transitioning to a lower carbon future."
In Australia, Vena Energy successfully commissioned a 95 MW solar project in Tailem Bend, South Australia in 2019 and is progressing over 2.5 gigawatts of renewable energy projects across the country. The Wandoan South BESS will be the first construction milestone of Vena Energy Australia's overarching Wandoan South Project, which will feature up to 650MW of solar generation and 450MW of battery storage capacity.
ING Global Head of Energy, Michiel de Haan says:
"The financing of the Wandoan South BESS marks ING's first standalone battery project financing in the Asia Pacific region, and is a testament of our efforts to work with our clients to commercially deploy new technologies such as BESS, which we believe are essential to enable the energy transition."
"ING has deep energy sector expertise, helping fund energy clients in multiple countries. As a global leader in this field we are keen to bring our international expertise and experience to support our clients."
"We are delighted to support our client Vena Energy on this milestone transaction. ING has supported Vena Energy on numerous transactions in Asia and our first deal with Vena Energy in Australia further enhances our longstanding relationship."
