Tilt poised to break Australia’s year-long wind drought after landing new PPA and banking deal

Tilt Renewables is poised to break Australia’s year-long wind investment drought after landing another major off take deal for one of its wind projects, and a multi-billion dollar refinancing facility from its banking syndicate.

Australia’s charge towards its ambitious 2030 renewable energy target has been partly stalled by the failure of any wind projects to reach financial close so far in 2025, with lenders and investors finding batteries and solar battery hybrids more to their taste.

But Tilt now has two wind projects – Palmer in South Australia and Waddi in Western Australia – poised for launch after landing two power purchase agreements with AGL Energy, one of its shareholders.

The latest, with the 108 MW Waddi project about 150kms north of Perth, was announced on Thursday morning, and comes just weeks after the two companies signed another PPA for the 275 MW Palmer wind project east of Adelaide.

AGL will take all of the output from Waddi over a 15-year period at a fixed, but undisclosed price. Industry insiders have said that the PPA prices for wind projects in Australia have peaked at around $110/MWh, although there are some suggestions they may be falling – having doubled in the last five years due to supply and turbine cost issues.

“This is a significant milestone for Tilt Renewables with the Waddi Wind Farm being our first project in Western Australia,” Tilt CEO Anthony Fowler said in a statement.

“We are currently working through our internal processes and finalising construction contracts. A final investment decision on the project is expected in coming weeks and we are targeting commercial operation in the second half of 2028.”

On Wednesday, Tilt announced it had secured a “landmark” $2.25 billion corporate portfolio refinancing and upsize – covering both domestic and Asian banks.

“What does this mean for Tilt, our team and partners? It provides a solid foundation for key Final Investment Decisions at our Waddi and Palmer Wind Farms,” the company said in a LinkedIn post.

“The strong support from our banking partners demonstrates their confidence in our current operations and our future development pipeline.”

This will be welcome news for federal energy minister Chris Bowen, and follows news that Alua Energy’s 270 MW Carmody Hill wind project in South Australia has obtained its connections agreement and is also getting close to an FID announcement.

AGL, and other big retailers such as Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia – have done little to contract or build new wind and solar projects in recent years, despite flagging the early closures of their respective coal fired generators.

They have been more focused on battery storage, which helps them control prices in critical demand and pricing peaks, but they are now starting to loosen their wallets, with AGL also looking at joint venture for the Pottinger renewable energy park in NSW, and the 600 MW Horsham wind project in Victoria.

AGL Perth Energy general manager, Giles Redmile, said the Waddi deal is its first long-term wind PPA for AGL in W.A..

“It will allow us to expand our product offering with renewable energy linked supply, as we continue to grow our business in WA over the coming years,” he said in a statement.

Tilt says the Waddi project will facilitate more than 150 new jobs in construction and six permanent jobs during operations and deliver more than $3.9 million in community benefit funding over the life of the project.

Its operating assets include the Coopers Gap, Dundonnell, Snowtown, Boco Rock and the newly completed Rye Park wind wind farms, while the 1.4 GW Liverpool Range project recently secured an CIS underwriting deal. The Palmer project has also won a CIS underwriting deal.

More information:https://reneweconomy.com.au/tilt-poised-to-break-australias-year-long-wind-drought-after-landing-new-ppa-and-banking-deal/