The yet-to-be-built Spinifex project is to be located 10 kilometres off the coast of Portland, Victoria. The spot gets strong winds but is shallow enough to make the construction easy. It is also close to existing port and high-voltage transmission infrastructure.
Alcoa a potential customer for Spinifex
The drawcard for prospective buyers is expected to be Spinifex’s proximity to big electricity users in the region. Alcoa and CITIC’s Portland smelter, which guzzles up nearly 10 per cent of Victoria’s total electricity consumption, is nearby, although it wasn’t mentioned in the teaser.
Instead, the teaser listed Alcoa, Alinta, the Victorian government and other customers in the National Energy Market as potential buyers.
The sell-side pitch leaned heavily on Spinifex’s potential to generate electricity (up to 10 per cent of Victoria’s needs), grid decarbonisation credentials (up to 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide avoided a year), and progress to date which has ticked off feasibility works and permits.
Prospective backers were also told to think about Alinta’s history in electricity generation and retail, including renewables. It has supplied energy to Australians for more than two decades, knows the ins and outs of the National Electricity Market and its wholesale counterpart, and has built up renewables nous from developing about 500 megawatts in generation assets.
Spinifex is understood to have attracted interest from European offshore and strategic players.
