Norton Rose Fulbright advises on two Australian firsts – first global proxy revenue swaps for two solar projects and first Australian proxy revenue swaps for a wind project in connection with the successful financing of Lal Lal Wind Farm
Global | Business | June 22, 2018
A cross-border team from global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty's alternative risk transfer unit, together with its partner Nephila Climate, on a proxy revenue swap for the 98MW Susan River Solar Project and the 78MW Childers Solar Project.
These two transactions were a first of their kind not only in Australia but also in the global energy renewables market.
The Norton Rose Fulbright team spanning Sydney and New York advised on this transaction, drawing upon the New York team’s previous work with Allianz, Nephila and REsurety, Inc. to structure and document the first proxy revenue swaps for wind projects in the US.
Following the success of the Susan River and Childers proxy revenue swaps, the Sydney and New York-based Norton Rose Fulbright teams have recently advised Allianz, Nephila and REsurety on two proxy revenue swaps for the Lal Lal Wind Farm. Separately, the firm’s Melbourne-based project finance team has advised the financiers on the successful financial close of the Lal Lal wind farm, which occurred on 15 June 2018.
The structure of the proxy revenue swaps will allow the solar and wind projects to protect their revenues from the financial risks associated with uncertain production volume, timing of energy generation and future energy prices and present an exciting new development in financeable offtake opportunities in the Australian market.
Norton Rose Fulbright projects group partner in the US, Robert Eberhardt, commented:
"The Allianz, Nephila and REsurety teams are pioneers in developing innovative, financeable risk transfer solutions for renewable energy projects. We appreciate having the opportunity to help them successfully close their first renewables transactions in Australia and to expand their product offerings to solar projects."
Norton Rose Fulbright banking and finance partner in Sydney, Vittorio Casamento, commented:
“We were delighted to be able to assist Allianz and Nephila to bring these new and innovative transactions to the Australian market. The strength of the NRF network was on display, as we were able to work closely with our colleagues in New York to implement these transactions in the Australian market.”
A separate Norton Rose Fulbright team advised the financiers, Export Development Canada, National Australia Bank, SMBC and Westpac, on the project. Norton Rose Fulbright project finance partner and lead partner on the financier team, Jo Crew, commented:
“It has been a pleasure to work alongside the financiers, sponsors and their respective advisors on another innovative deal for the project finance renewables market.”
The Allianz and Nephila client team was led by Robert Eberhardt (Partner, New York), Vittorio Casamento (Partner, Sydney) and Kelly Davies (Senior Consultant, Sydney), with assistance from Christine Brozynski (Senior Associate, New York) Shen Low (Associate, Sydney) and Christopher Vale (Associate, New York).
The financiers client team for the Lal Lal wind farm was led by Jo Crew (Partner, Melbourne) with assistance from Joanna Taylor (Special Counsel, Melbourne), Claire Whitney (Senior Associate, Melbourne); Celia Boyle (Senior Associate, Melbourne), Hector Sharp (Lawyer, Melbourne) and SuZanne Yap (Graduate, Melbourne).
