Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) received the support of two Australian banking firms to develop a 20-megawatt solar plant in Australia. Project financing for the photovoltaic facility would be provided by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd and National Australia Bank Ltd. In an emailed statement to Bloomberg, FRV said the Royalla plant would be located near Canberra. No financial details about the transaction were disclosed.
The planned Royalla plant would be one of Australia's biggest. It would receive a feed-in tariff for twenty years from the Australian government. A feed-in tariff is a mechanism put in place to increase investment in renewable energy technologies. The government typically offers long-term contracts to producers of renewable energies based on their respective generation costs instead of paying an equal amount.
The Royalla plant is slated for completion by the middle of 2014. Acciona is the contractor assigned for the project. US investor Denham Capital Management holds a majority stake in FRV.
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