Neoen is investing in the future of Australia’s renewables by powering a growing number of the nation’s homes with clean energy.
Neoen is a French company with a long-term investment strategy to meet Australia’s electricity needs through renewable sources.
Along with its local partners Megawatt Capital and John Laing, Neoen is investing A$835 million in the 309 megawatt (MW) Hornsdale Wind Farm in South Australia’s Jamestown, creating 250 construction jobs in the region over three years.
Following the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government’s wind and Next Generation energy auctions in 2014, 2015 and 2016, Neoen was awarded a 20-year feed-in-tariff for all three stages of the Hornsdale Wind Farm project. The ACT has a target of being 100 per cent renewable by 2020, and Hornsdale will contribute to approximately fifty per cent of this target.
Once complete, the Hornsdale Wind Farm will power almost a quarter of a million Australian homes; and reduce Australia's CO2 emissions by over one million tonnes per year – the equivalent of taking more than 300,000 cars off the road.
Neoen is also investing in Australia’s remote areas, operating and developing solar-storage hybrid projects, solar and wind projects ranging from 10MW to 300MW in size. Its recent development and construction of Australia’s largest integrated off-grid solar and battery storage facility at the DeGrussa Copper-Gold mine in remote Western Australia will help reduce diesel consumption and cut carbon emissions by more than 12,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
For Neoen, investment in Australia is also about growing Australia’s renewable energy industry. The company recently announced a 20-year investment in the Renewable Energy Skills Centre of Excellence at the Canberra Institute of Technology, along with a A$120,000 annual investment in local community projects in the rural region around Hornsdale Wind Farm through its Community Fund.
Neoen’s recent Australian investments are part of its future plans to build more than 1000MW of renewable energy projects in Australia by 2020. ‘We were looking for a country that had a favourable environment for renewable energy,’ says Franck Woitiez, Managing Director, Neoen Australia, ‘We looked at several countries and regions, including Brazil and North America, but Australia presented the best opportunity for our business.’