By Alison Leckie | February 24, 2026
A leading Australian renewable energy developer required a complete financial model suite to support the project finance raise for a 250MW / 500MWh grid-scale battery energy storage system, co-located with an existing wind farm in regional New South Wales.
The project involved complex revenue stacking — combining frequency control ancillary services (FCAS), wholesale energy arbitrage, and a contracted capacity agreement with the state network operator. The financing structure required a four-bank senior lending group to be satisfied with model integrity, stress-testing, and downside scenarios before credit approval could proceed.
The Challenge
The developer had an aggressive timeline driven by a grid connection agreement that carried significant milestone penalties. From initial engagement to lender-ready model, the team had six weeks.
Compounding the timeline pressure, the revenue model required careful treatment of FCAS market dynamics, battery degradation curves, and augmentation capex — areas where standard project finance modelling approaches needed adaptation. The lenders also required an independent sensitivity framework they could operate themselves during due diligence.
Our Approach
Pivotal180 embedded with the developer’s internal team from day one, running parallel workstreams to meet the deadline without sacrificing model integrity.
Week 1–2: Scoped the full model architecture, agreed assumptions protocol with the developer and lead arranger, and built the core revenue and cost stack including degradation modelling and augmentation capex scheduling.
Week 3–4: Completed the debt sizing module, cash flow waterfall, and DSCR / LLCR calculations. Ran first-pass lender review with the lead arranger’s credit team and incorporated feedback.
Week 5–6: Finalised the sensitivity and scenario framework, prepared the model user guide, and delivered the lender model package — including a standalone version for lender use with locked assumptions and unlocked outputs.
Throughout the engagement, Pivotal180 maintained a single point of contact for all four lenders, managing model queries and revision requests directly to reduce the burden on the developer’s team.
What We Delivered
– Full integrated project finance model (development, construction, operations)
– Lender model — standalone, audit-ready, with user guide
– Revenue model incorporating FCAS, arbitrage, and capacity contract stacking
– Battery degradation and augmentation capex schedule
– Sensitivity and scenario framework (lender-operable)
– Assumptions register and model audit trail
– Support through credit approval and financial close
The Outcome
Financial close was achieved on schedule, avoiding grid connection milestone penalties. All four lenders confirmed model acceptance without requiring a third-party model audit, saving the developer both cost and time during due diligence.
“The model was exactly what our lenders needed — rigorous, transparent, and delivered faster than we thought possible
given the complexity of the revenue stack.”
— Project Finance Director, Australian Renewable Energy Developer
Key Stats
| Deal Size | A$240M |
| Technology | 250MW / 500MWh BESS |
| Location | New South Wales, Australia |
| Timeline | 6 weeks to financial close |
| Lenders | 4-bank senior lending group |
| Outcome | Financial close on schedule |