Quinbrook lands new finance for 3 GWh Queensland battery

Australian-owned renewable energy investor and developer Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has secured AUD 722 million in new debt financing for the first two stages of the Supernode battery energy storage project being built at Brendale, just north of Brisbane.
The BESS – being built as part of an AUD 2.5 billion battery and data center, integrated facility – will comprise three stages. Construction of the first and second stage battery systems has already commenced and will deliver a combined nameplate capacity of 520 MW/1,856 MWh.
Quinbrook is also planning a third stage that it said will raise the battery to a total nameplate capacity of 760 MW/3,096 MWh, making it one of the largest battery energy storage projects under construction in the world.
Australian utility Origin Energy has signed up for all of the capacity of both the first and second stages of the project and Queensland state-owned generation company Stanwell has inked a long-term offtake contract for the third phase.
Quinbrook Managing Director Brian Restall said the offtake agreements had played a key role in delivering the new debt financing package. “We are very pleased with the successful close of this financing which reflects the robust qualities of the Supernode project, especially the offtake partnership we have agreed with Origin Energy,” he said.
The new finance was provided by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Mizuho Bank, and Japan’s MUFG Bank.
“We are grateful for the strong support received from both our existing and new financing partners, who recognize the critical role that large-scale [energy] storage investments provide in supporting Queensland and the wider [Australian] National Electricity Market as the energy transition accelerates,” Restall said.
The first stage of the Supernode battery energy storage project is expected to be delivered in 2025.
Quinbrook said, when operational, the Supernode battery will enable the efficient storage of surplus solar energy generated at any time of day and “time shifting” that energy to evening peak grid demand periods.
The Supernode project is being developed on a 30-hectare site adjacent to the South Pine substation, the central node of Queensland’s electricity grid, where more than 80% of all power capacity located in the state transmits to.
From pv magazine Australia.