Herbert Smith Freehills energy team advises Firm Power and Terrain Solar on acquisition by AGL Energy

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has advised the shareholders to Australian-owned energy companies, Firm Power and Terrain Solar, on the acquisition of their businesses by AGL Energy.

Firm Power has 21 projects in their Australian development pipeline, comprising 6.1 GW of grid-scale BESS. Terrain Solar, a solar project developer, has another six projects in development.

HSFs energy partner, Peter Davis, said the $250 million acquisition is the biggest battery storage investment by AGL Energy to date.

“Firm Power and Terrain Solar provide a high-quality pipeline of battery and solar assets to accelerate the nation’s energy transition.  It was a pleasure to advise Firm Power and Terrain Solar on this competitive acquisition process.”

The matter was led by energy partners Peter Davis and Nick Baker in HSF’s Projects, Energy and Infrastructure practice, alongside senior associates Codie Asimus and Blair Feng, and solicitors, Paul Estephan and Ben Fong.

The project also included cross-practice expertise from various specialist teams across the firm, including: Peter Briggs, Kathryn Pacey, Melanie Debenham, Tom Dougherty, Holly Vaughan, Jasmine Wood, Allira Jeffrey, Georgie Juszczyk, Ellen Frodsham, Jessica Barge and Isabella Badesso (Environment, Planning and Communities); Stuart Robertson, Alexander Brand, Lachlan Taylor, Timothy Gan and Arthur Hancock (Real Estate); Kristen Percy, Sam Cooper, Jullia Hollis and Dayna Girven (Grid Connection), Elizabeth Charlesworth (Financing); Kwok Tang, Raymond Sun, Rachel Holland and Anne Hu (TMT and Privacy); Drew Pearson, Chris Nowland and Holly Regan (Employment) and Melanie Bouton, Samuel Gonski, Laura Boshier Eggins and Emily Hunyor (Intellectual Property). 

HSF’s cross-practice teams continue to provide market-leading advice to clients in the clean energy sector including:

• BHP on the potential development of a pumped hydro generation facility at its Mt Arthur coal hub.
• Marinus Link Pty Ltd (MLPL) in relation to its contract with Italian-owned cable manufacturing company, Prysmian, for the procurement of a 750-megawatt High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) subsea and land cable for the Marinus Link  interconnector between North West Tasmania and the Latrobe Valley in Victoria.
• a group of seven banks on the financing of the Ulinda Park Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project (the Ulinda Park BESS);
• the lenders on the development and project financing of the 200MW/400MWh Rangebank Battery Energy Storage Systems, located in Cranbourne West, Melbourne, Victoria;
• Edify Energy on the greenfield development, financing and sale to Sosteneo of the 185 MW / 360 MWh Koorangie BESS located in Victoria which achieved completion and financial close in October 2023;
• project developers and offtakers including Edify Energy, Octopus Energy, RATCH Australia and Spark Renewables on innovative offtake arrangements for utility scale solar/battery hybrid projects; and
• Fotowatio Renewable Ventures Australia (FRV Australia) on the project financing of the Walla Walla Solar Farm, located in Walla Walla near Albury, which will be one of the largest solar farms in New South Wales.