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Alinta Energy and Parkwind team up and confirm a site to co-develop the Spinifex Offshore Wind Farm

published on 24/04/2024

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Alinta Energy and Parkwind team up and confirm a site to co-develop the Spinifex Offshore Wind Farm

Alinta Energy and JERA Nex, through its wholly owned subsidiary Parkwind, have agreed to join forces to develop the 1GW+ Spinifex Offshore Wind Farm in the Southern Ocean Region Declared Area in south west Victoria.

Under the agreement Alinta Energy and JERA Nex, the newly launched renewable energy company created by JERA combining the resilience of Japan’s largest utility company with the focus and agility of a dedicated renewables business, will apply their respective expertise and capabilities to jointly develop the Spinifex Project.

Alinta Energy MD & CEO Jeff Dimery said he was excited to work with the JERA Nex team who bring strong experience as developers and operators.

“JERA and Parkwind both have a great track-record in offshore wind and has pioneered some impressive engineering and construction techniques. We love that spirit and the launch of JERA Nex, bringing the two companies’ renewable expertise together, is exactly what we’ll need in Australia to build a new industry from the ground up.”

“The other thing that attracted us to JERA Nex was its vision for ensuring the project benefits communities in south west Victoria,” he said.

“There is huge potential for offshore wind in Australia and we’re confident that the combination of Alinta Energy’s local expertise and experience and our offshore credentials provide a strong foundation for this project,” said Francois Van Leeuw VP of Development & Construction Offshore, JERA Nex and co-CEO of Parkwind. “We’re looking forward to working closely with the local community to bring clean, sustainable energy to Australian homes and businesses.”

The team at JERA Nex, of which Parkwind plays a central part, has experience of in offshore wind and in developing supply chains for new offshore wind regions. JERA Nex owns and operates seven wind farms across the world including in Belgium, Germany, the UK, Japan and Taiwan, and has a significant global pipeline.

A local supply chain and industry development study completed by the project in 2023 estimated the project could contribute up to A$1.6 billion during the construction period and A$40 million per year in operation to the regional economy.

RBC Capital Markets and Rothschild & Co acted as joint financial advisors and Clayton Utz acted as legal advisor to Alinta Energy. Ashurst acted as legal advisor to Parkwind.

For media inquiries, please contact:
JERA Nex: Ben Hunt, ben.hunt@jeranex.com
Parkwind: Karen Blommaert, communication@parkwind.eu
Alinta Energy: Julian Polachek on 1300 455 156 or email media@alintaenergy.com.au.

About JERA Nex and Parkwind
JERA Nex is a company created by JERA to scale renewable energy for a sustainable future. JERA Nex combines the resilience of JERA, one of the world’s largest electricity producers, with the agility and focus of a dedicated renewables business that can act at the pace required to drive the global energy transition.

JERA Nex invests in, currently owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy assets, with a portfolio over 3GW that includes offshore wind, onshore wind and solar, as well as battery storage. This includes Parkwind, its wholly owned subsidiary. Headquartered in London, and with centres of excellence in Belgium, Japan, Taiwan and the US, our team of more than 300 renewable and energy industry experts combines global knowhow and experience with the local expertise and knowledge necessary to deliver successful projects.

Parkwind is an integrated offshore wind business that develops, finances and operates offshore wind farms. Since July 2023, Parkwind has been operating as part of JERA Co., Inc. Together, Parkwind and JERA have more than a decade of experience and over 1,500 MW of offshore wind assets under operational management in Belgium, Germany, the UK, Taiwan, and Japan, in addition to an extensive pipeline of offshore wind projects in development around the world including in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Japan, France, Norway, Greece, and Australia/New Zealand.

Committed to making green energy available and affordable for everyone through its unique approach of covering the entire value chain of offshore wind, Parkwind has established itself as a reliable and competitive partner to communities, governments and suppliers globally.

About Spinifex
Spinifex is a proposed offshore wind farm in the Southern Ocean Region Declared Area in south west Victoria. It could provide approximately 1 GW of green energy, which is enough to power approximately 650,000 Victorian homes each year. Spinifex was announced publicly in late 2021 and is in the pre-planning and development phase. The Portland Aluminium Smelter is a potential customer and connection point for the electricity produced by the project.

Read more about the Spinifex Offshore Wind Farm project here - Spinifex Home Page - Spinifex (spinifexoffshore.com.au).

About Alinta Energy
Alinta Energy is one of Australia’s largest energy retailers, generators, investors and developers. In the last decade we’ve grown from being the largest residential gas retailer in Western Australia to the preferred electricity and gas provider for more than 1.1 million homes and businesses Australia-wide.

We have an owned and contracted generation portfolio of 3,000 MW across Australia and New Zealand – including gas, wind, solar, and coal. Our determination to make energy better has put us at the forefront of the transition to renewables. We built Western Australia’s highest producer of renewable energy (the Yandin Wind Farm), the first grid-forming big battery in Australia, and one of the biggest remote solar installations at the Chichester solar-gas hybrid project. And we’re developing over $10 billion of renewables and storage projects including offshore wind and pumped hydro projects.

We’re proud of our local customer service centres and agents in Perth, Western Australia and Morwell in Victoria, and employ around 1000 people across the country.

Pictured: Mathias Van Steenwinkel, Head of M&A, Origination & Tender at Parkwind (left) and Jeff Dimery, CEO of Alinta Energy (right).
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Maarten van der Horst

Head of Projects

Maarten joined Parkwind and more specifically the Oriel project team in early 2021. He brings 17 years of experience in the energy industry having worked at Engie's renewables arm first as an engineer, later as offshore specialist.

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Wim Verrept

IT Services Manager

He joined Parkwind in 2016 as risk manager, during the installation phase of Nobelwind. Since then his responsibilities have expanded to include IT and the QHSSE department. Before joining the company, he worked as a risk manager at large financial institution in Belgium.
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Ingrid Dony

HR Manager

Ingrid joined Parkwind in 2013 and manages the Human Resources department. Her expertise in corporate HR has created the foundations in Parkwind’s evolving and rapidly growing employee and consultant base. Her team manages everything from payroll to employee development and communications. She has been instrumental in preparing the organization for international expansion and the digitalization of numerous HR legal and administrative tools.

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Dirk Dewettinck

Head of R&D

At Parkwind since 2015 he manages the engineering resources involved in project development, design and construction. He was closely involved in the technical management of the Nobelwind and Northwester 2 projects. Prior to joining Parkwind, he was involved in other offshore wind projects, working for a major wind turbine supplier, and prior to that he worked for more than 15 years with major engineering contractors in projects around the world, mainly in the conventional power generation construction and services (steam, gas, nuclear).
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Clément Helbig de Balzac

Project Director Arcadis Ost 1

Joining Parkwind in 2011 as a project finance specialist and he was heavily involved in the financing and construction of Northwind and Nobelwind. Thereafter, as project finance manager, he led the financing process of Northwester 2 and the refinancing of three operational offshore wind farms of the Parkwind portfolio. He is also involved in business development projects for his expertise lies in financing processes, construction contract negotiation, contracting strategy and development and construction management.
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Edward Van Melkebeek

Head of Technology

Since joining Parkwind in 2018, he has been leading the Technology team responsible for leveraging Parkwind’s know-how in civil, electrical and WTG packages to development of new projects. The team also performs a supply chain role, managing technical aspects of project contracts. Previously, he has built extensive practical and managerial experience in the offshore construction business for over 22 years at a global leading dredging and offshore contractor strongly active in the offshore wind industry.
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Mathias Van Steenwinkel

Business Development Manager

He joined Parkwind in 2012 working on financial modelling, PPA negotiations and the overall financial close processes. Since 2016, he is heading the growing business development department playing a key role in the identification of new projects, global partnerships and tender preparations.
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Kristof Verlinden

O&M Manager

With Parkwind since 2010, he is responsible for the asset management and production management of all of Parkwind’s offshore operational assets. The O&M organization plays a pivotal role in project development incorporating strategic insight to ensure frictionless O&M operations from the moment of first production. The team also supplies external support services, is involved in numerous R&D initiatives with universities and wind farm performance analysis using state of the art data systems. Kristof joined Parkwind with an engineering background in international service support business and wind turbine driveline design validation.
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Pieter Marinus

General Counsel and Investment Relations Director

As a former Parkwind board member, he has been involved in the financial close and follow-up of every Parkwind project as well as in their acquisition and divestment processes. Prior to joining Parkwind’s management in 2017, he was also in charge of multiple other renewable energy investments and financings around Europe, notably as Investment Director at Korys.
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Peter Caluwaerts

Head of Engagement Management

After years of building extensive experience in large construction works, he started his career in offshore wind in 2010 by taking up the role of CLO of Parkwind, responsible for regulatory, legal and contracting matters for Belwind and Northwind windfarms. Since then, as Project Director, he’s led the Northwester 2 project completed in 2020 and is now responsible for Parkwind’s Irish projects Oriel and Clogherhead. He plays an instrumental role in organizing Parkwind’s international expansion and growth.
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Eric Antoons

co-CEO

Before joining the company in 2013, he worked for one of the largest power and gas suppliers in Belgium, in both operational and executive functions. Joining Parkwind in 2013 as COO, he supervised the construction of three wind farm projects and the considerable growth of O&M activities. Since becoming co-CEO in 2016, he has also developed Parkwind’s R&D activities to the forefront partnering with universities and several technology start-ups.
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François Van Leeuw

co-CEO

He joined Parkwind as CFO in 2009 and has been leading the financing and development of Parkwind's first wind farms. In his role he’s particularly involved in new business and partnership development for Parkwind globally. He is also serving as the chairman of the Belgian Offshore Platform, the non-profit association of investors and owners of Belgian wind farms.
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Paul Tummers

CFO

Arriving to Parkwind in 2019, after a broad career in energy and infrastructure, he has taken a leading role in Parkwind’s international expansion from both corporate finance and organizational restructuring.