Herbert Smith Freehills advises Tilt Renewables on the project development of the 396MW Rye Park Wind Farm

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Tilt Renewables, part of leading Australian renewable energy provider Powering Australian Renewables (PowAR), on all aspects of the procurement and connection of the Rye Park Wind Farm, a significant renewable energy development located near Rye Park, New South Wales and the first wind farm in Australia to be project financed using a split procurement structure.

Recently acquired by PowAR via a scheme of arrangement, Tilt Renewables is a leading developer, owner and manager of renewable energy generation assets in Australia. The Rye Park Wind Farm will comprise up to 66 turbines, with an expected installed capacity of 396MW. It is expected to be fully operational by Q1 2024. PowAR is the largest owner and operator of non-hydro renewable energy in Australia, with a portfolio of more than 1,700MW across operating and under-construction solar and wind assets.

The wind farm is supported by a 15 year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Newcrest for approximately 55% of the wind farm’s generation.

The sponsor-side Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by partners Daniel Ficyk and Toby Anderson, advising on the procurement aspects of the wind farm, including wind turbine supply and installation and operation and maintenance arrangements with Vestas; and balance of plant engineering, procurement and construction arrangements with Zenviron. Partner Kristen Percy advised on grid connection arrangements, and senior associate Stuart Robertson on land aspects.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team acting for the financiers was led by partner Gerard Pike with support from senior associate Nadine Kilpatrick and solicitors Beryl Yan and Sean Carr.

Daniel Ficyk said, “That Tilt has been able to bring this significant, first-in-market project to financial close in challenging market conditions is testament to the hard work, resilience and sophistication of Tilt’s development and leadership teams. We’re delighted to have supported Tilt in achieving such a successful outcome”.

Gerard Pike added, “Achieving Financial Close on Rye Park is a real market-moving moment for Tilt and PowAR. This is a big wind farm with a complex procurement package. It marks a big step forward in the renewable energy market, given how challenging it has been to bring large-scale projects into construction in Australia in 2021. Big congratulations and kudos to the Tilt and PowAR Team”.

This deal is another example of Herbert Smith Freehills’ market-leading work in the Renewables sector. Other recent examples include advising:

• Powering Australian Renewables’ financiers on the NZ$3.07 billion acquisition of Tilt Renewables
• RES Australia on the development, project financing and sale of the Dulacca Wind Farm
• Swancor Renewable Energy on Taiwanese mega-scale offshore wind projects
• Mitsubishi Corporation on its investment in a 600MW onshore wind power project in Laos
• New Energy Solar Limited on the sale of its Australian solar farms
• Blueleaf Energy on 1.25GW solar partnership in the Philippines
• the financiers on the project financing of UPC\AC Renewables’ New England Solar Farm