Australia's Genex needs more time to secure funding for pumped-hydro project
23/09/2020 02:19
Sept 23 (Reuters) - Australia's Genex Power Ltd GNX.AX
said on Wednesday it no longer expected to finalise funding
arrangements for its flagship pumped-hydro project by the end of
September, as it continues to negotiate with project partners.
Genex shares fell as much as 4.8% after the announcement
compared to a 1.4% gain in the broader Ausralian market. .AXJO
The Sydney-based firm also said it was in final stages of
concluding talks with a "preferred equity partner" to buy up to
a 50% stake in the Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project, without
naming the investor.
Genex had been trying to line up EnergyAustralia, a unit of
Hong Kong's CLP Holdings 0002.HK , to take a 50% stake in the
250-megawatt project over nearly two years. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N27H16G
In March this year, the company finalised an agreement with
Australia's third-largest energy retailer, EnergyAustralia, to
buy power from the project being built at an abandoned gold mine
in the state of Queensland. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2F50VU
Pumped hydro acts like a giant battery, pumping water uphill
when energy is abundant and releasing it to create power at
night or on a windless day.
The company added that the government's Northern Australia
Infrastructure Facility has extended its offer of funding to
Jan. 31, 2021 and that the Queensland government reaffirmed its
commitment of A$132 million ($94.59 million) in funding for
project transmission infrastructure.
($1 = 1.3955 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Shriya Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Stephen Coates)
((Shriya.Ramakrishnan@thomsonreuters.com; +91 8061822842 ;))