Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) on its A$39.8 million project financing of Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm near Bendigo, Victoria.

Coonooer Bridge was one of three wind projects to win the support of the ACT government via a reverse feed-in tariff auction for 200 megawatts of wind generation announced in January 2015. The successful close of Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm on Tuesday is a sign of success for the ACT Government’s renewables auction policy and process which is part of its policy to have 90 per cent of the ACT’s electricity needs come from renewable power by 2020.

Developed by Windlab Systems, the wind farm will have six Vestas turbines and be capable of generating up to 19.4 megawatts. The wind farm will be 80 per cent owned by Japanese firm Eurus Energy Holdings. Thirty-three local landowners will also have a four per cent share in the project.

Herbert Smith Freehills acted as legal advisers to ANZ on all aspects of its financing of the project. The team was led by Partners Gerard Pike and Andrew Clark, who were supported by Senior Associate Alison Dodd, Solicitor Paul Marshall and Graduate Samantha Sutton.

Gerard Pike said, “Our team is very pleased to have worked with ANZ to achieve Financial Close in a very tight timeframe and it is also a credit to Windlab and Eurus who have worked very hard on the project to achieve this milestone.”

Other legal advisers on the project included Gilbert + Tobin, who advised the borrower, Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm Pty Ltd.