The directors of Red Sky Energy Limited are pleased to provide the following update on its utility-scale Dubbo Solar One Project in central New South Wales.
As previously announced, Red Sky’s solar energy business, Soleir Pty Limited is developing a funding structure that will allow for unitized ownership of its commercial solar projects, which has the potential to reduce the cost of capital of the projects by 20-30%. The Dubbo Solar One Project is Soleir’s first utility-scale project.
The company now advises a revised time line will result from the proposed changes to certain tax laws by the new federal government which impact on the proposed funding structure. These changes have now been worked through and a final submission of a revised funding structure, to take into account the relevant tax law changes, will be made to the regulator this week. Regulatory approval for the revised funding structure is expected within the next few weeks.
The changes to the funding structure has also required electrical and structural design modifications to the project. The Dubbo Solar One Project will now comprise approximately 2,200 Soleir Systems each of size 1.1kW. Soleir, and its electrical design consultant AECOM, are working through the implications of these changes to the grid connection. At this stage, the changes are not expected to materially alter the Offer to Connect or Connection Agreement with grid owner Essential Energy.
Due to these changes, the time line for the commencement of the Dubbo Solar One Project has been revised. Soleir is now targeting financial close of the project in late November/early December. It is anticipated that this amended time line will still allow sufficient time to complete project construction on schedule, by June 2014.
Red Sky acquired solar energy company, Soleir in November last year. Soleir is a developer of utility scale photovoltaic (PV) solar power projects.
Soleir has made strong progress on the development of the Dubbo Solar One Project. The project will initially be a 2.5MW project, and a 30 year lease for the project site has been secured from the Dubbo City Council. Development approval for the 2.5MW project is also in place. The project site has the potential to accommodate an expanded project, of up to 12MW.
Red Sky (via subsidiary, Rhythm Section Investment Management Pty Ltd) has also been granted an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to accommodate the project’s proposed unitized funding and ownership structure. The project also has an ‘Offer to Connect’ grid connection agreement from Australia’s largest electricity network, Essential Energy, in place.