City of Sydney enters into largest renewable energy deal

Published by: Sandy Bhadare at 17 Dec 2019

Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has advised the City of Sydney on the largest standalone renewable energy tra...

Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has advised the City of Sydney on the largest standalone renewable energy transaction entered into by any Australian council to date, a power purchase agreement (PPA) with energy business Flow Power, valued at $60 million.

The Sydney-based NRF team was led by energy partner and head of power Kelly Davies, who was supported by regulatory partner Claire Forster and associate Laura Waterford.

It was earlier this year, in June, that the City of Sydney, certified carbon neutral since 2011 and a member of the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, declared a climate emergency.

The agreement with Flow Power will enable the city to achieve 100% renewable energy procurement as of 1 July 2020, with three quarters sourced from wind generation and a quarter from solar power.

Termed a ‘sleeved’ PPA, the deal will see Flow Power act as an intermediary between the City of Sydney itself and a trio of New South Wales-based wind and solar generators comprising of Sapphire Wind Farm, Bomen Solar Farm and a not-for-profit community-owned solar scheme.

As a result, emissions will be reduced by approximately 20,000 tonnes per year, equivalent to the power consumption of 8,000 households, and it is forecasted that up to $0.5 million per annum will be saved, over the next decade.

In addition, the deal will support local communities and local jobs, according to NRF’s Davies.

Looking ahead, Flow Power’s CEO Matthew van der Linden added that “we need organisations to lead by example when it comes to their energy strategy”.

In November, Deloitte advised Novasec on obtaining the exclusive right to raise €80 million to fund the development of Spain’s largest onshore windfarm, Gecama.

In the same month, British airline company easyJet was announced as the first major commercial airline to offset the carbon emissions from the fuel used by its aircrafts, across its entire network.

In addition, Estée Lauder signed its largest global renewable energy contract.