Australian utility AGL Energy Ltd will acquire an 8.1 GW renewable energy pipeline by 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). The transaction will provide AGL which manages Australia’s largest private electricity generation portfolio within the National Electricity Market (NEM) with a solar and battery storage development renewable pipeline totalling 8.1 GW in capacity.
This includes six large-scale solar projects with a total capacity of 1.8 GW developed by Terrain. The majority of this capacity is located in Queensland with 1.1 GW of the portfolio, 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 will add 6.1 GW of grid-scale battery energy storage projects to AGL’s portfolio. This includes 21 mid-sized battery projects in the development pipeline each ranging from 200 MW to 500 MW and featuring 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 AGL’s Managing Director and CEO, Damien Nicks.
AGL Adds Wind Farm to Portfolio
The transaction also involves acquiring a 250 MW wind farm project in New South Wales (NSW). AGL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer 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.