Australian utility AGL Energy Ltd is set to acquire an 8.1 GW renewable energy pipeline, purchasing battery developer Firm Power and solar project firm Terrain Solar for $250 million.
AGL Expands Renewables with $250M Acquisition
AGL has confirmed a binding agreement to acquire Sydney-based solar developer Terrain Solar and battery energy storage specialist Firm Power in a deal valued at approximately $250 million (USD 165.5 million). This acquisition gives AGL, which manages Australia’s largest private electricity generation portfolio within the National Electricity Market (NEM), a solar and battery storage development pipeline totaling 8.1 GW.
This includes six large-scale solar projects developed by Terrain, with a total capacity of 1.8 GW. The majority of this capacity, 1.1 GW, is in Queensland, while 500 MW is under development in New South Wales (NSW). Terrain also has smaller solar projects in progress in Western Australia (WA) and South Australia (SA).
AGL Expands Battery Storage with Firm Power Deal
The acquisition of Firm Power adds 6.1 GW of grid-scale battery energy storage projects to AGL’s portfolio. The pipeline consists of 21 mid-sized battery projects, each ranging from 200 MW to 500 MW with storage durations of two to eight hours.
AGL acquires Firm Power, adding 6.1 GW of battery storage projects to support renewable energy firming.
“We believe this high-quality development pipeline presents strong optionality for AGL, focusing on firming capacity which will be required to firm new renewable generation for our customer base and portfolio as thermal baseload generation exits the NEM,” said Damien Nicks, AGL’s Managing Director and CEO.
Accelerating AGL’s Energy Transition
The transaction also includes a 250 MW wind farm project in New South Wales (NSW). Damien Nicks said the purchase will support the company’s transition away from coal-fired power generation to backed-up renewables.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to grow and accelerate our development pipeline, which is already 6.2 GW so that AGL is best placed to take advantage of market conditions and prioritise developments that generate the best long-term value and be a leader in the energy transition,” he said.
The 250 MW / 250 MWh Torrens Island battery in South Australia and the 50 MW / 50 MWh Broken Hill battery in New South Wales (NSW) became operational in August 2023 and August 2024 respectively. Construction has also started on the 500 MW / 1,000 MWh Liddell battery in NSW. In addition, AGL is developing the 500 MW / 2,000 MWh Tomago battery on the NSW Central Coast, along with other major battery projects across NSW, Victoria, South Australia (SA) and Queensland.
AGL noted that its proposed acquisition of Firm Power and Terrain Solar is subject to standard conditions, with completion expected by the end of the year.
