The two power plants would have a combinedinstalled capacity of 34 MWp and a total combined investment volumeof AUD 48.3 million (EUR 33.8 million). Photon Energy intends tofinance the construction of the Leeton and Environa plants from theproceeds of a public offering of AUD 55.4 million (EUR 38.8million) worth of bonds in the Czech Republic.
Since entering the Australian market in2011, Photon Energy has been mainly focused on commercial andoff-grid PV installations. As utility-scale PV plants wereapproaching economic viability, in 2014 Photon Energy commenced abroad development effort on which the company is now for the firsttime releasing specific details. Following Photon Energy’s policyto only report well-advanced projects, the company is in a positionto announce that two of its projects under development with acombined installed capacity of 34 MWp are expected to be fullypermitted and ready-to-build by the end of 2017Q2. Photon Energy’sannounced project pipeline consists of a 20 MWp PV plant in Leetonand a 14 MWp plant in Environa, both in New South Wales. The totalannual electricity production of both plants is projected to exceed55 GWh, which will cover the consumption of 9,500 averagehouseholds and avoid almost 50,000 tons of CO₂ emissions per year.The total investment is projected at AUD 48.3 million (EUR 33.8million) and Photon Energy expects a project return above 8% overthe plants’ operating lives.
"The in-house developed projectsin Leeton and Environa will - once operational – firmly establishPhoton Energy as a leading player in the fast-developing Australianmarket and their progress provides us with a lot of confidenceabout our entire project pipeline Down Under. We are lookingforward to leveraging our utility-scale know-how from Europe andour local Australian track record into high quality PV assets to beadded to our proprietary portfolio", explainsMichael Gartner, MD of Photon EnergyAustralia.
“Adding power plants in Australia toour existing 26 MWp portfolio in Europe will even out theseasonality in production and further strengthen our recurringrevenue base from the sale of electricity”, says CEOGeorg Hotar.
Photon Energy started the public offeringin the Czech Republic of an innovative 7-yearcorporate bond with a 6% annual interest rate and monthly couponpayments. With a nominal value of CZK 30,000 (AUD 1,584) thePhoton Energy bond targets both retail and institutional investorswith a total volume of AUD 55.4 million (CZK 1,050.0 million, EUR38.8 million).
“The progress in Leeton and Environaannounced today will provide potential investors in our bonds withadditional comfort that we will be able to deploy the issueproceeds into value-enhancing assets on the world’s sunniestcontinent”, explains Michael Gartner, MD of PhotonEnergy Australia.
“Australia was the 8thlargest PV market worldwide in 2015 and as costs continue todecline we are observing a growing number of players moving intothe market, where we have a five-year head start. We are fullyfocussed on converting our pole position into high quality PVassets Down Under”, concluded Photon Energy CEO GeorgHotar.
Jan Krcmar
T +420 773 032 182
E jan.krcmar@photonenergy.com