​Australia's BESS and solar financing and offtake activity slowed in Q1 2026. However, acquisitions continued at a pace consistent with 2025.

Five acquisitions totalling close to 2 GW reshaped Australian BESS and solar ownership. By comparison, only one standalone project reached financial close, and just two projects achieved offtake agreements. In total, the transacted volume reached 2.7 GW across 10 deals.

Q1 2026 accounted for 22% of the rolling-year MW volume from Q2 2025, but just 17% of the deal count. Portfolio-level capital continued to move forward, but momentum on individual projects stalled at the contracting and financing stages.

This is the second edition of Modo Energy's Australia BESS and Solar Deals Report. It covers three types of activity announced in Q1 2026: financing (project debt and equity investment), M&A (mergers and acquisitions, and offtake agreements (revenue contracts). Context is also provided based on the previous year. Q4 2025’s edition can be found here.

Capacity values reflect individual transacted projects with disclosed asset-level capacity. Portfolio-level acquisitions (Lightsource BP, Revera, KKR/HMC) are excluded from MW totals but counted in deal counts. Actual deal flow may be higher.

Executive summary

• M&A accounted for 74% of Q1 2026's disclosed volume, with five transactions totalling close to 2 GW. Hanworth BESS, set to be Australia's largest battery, accounted for 1.2 GW.
• Aula Energy's acquisition of Lightsource BP's Australian solar and BESS portfolio (1,037 MW operating solar, 800 MW BESS pipeline) was the only portfolio-level acquisition.
• Portfolio financing led: Revera Energy closed a US$150M debt facility, and KKR invested AU$603M in HMC Capital's Energy Transition Platform. Project-level financing was limited to Hallett BESS Stage 1 (50 MW, SA).
• Octopus Australia led the sponsors. In a single quarter, it acquired Hanworth BESS and Dunmore Solar, and secured an offtake agreement for Blind Creek Solar and BESS.
• Non-traditional offtake structures continued to displace traditional PPAs and tolls. Bellambi Heights' seven-year revenue share with InCommodities follows Q4 2025 virtual tolls. Q2 and Q3 will show whether these structures translate into project finance.

M&A sustained the quarter, while financing and offtakes paused

Against a backdrop of slower financing activity, five acquisitions in Q1 2026 totalled close to 2 GW. This is brought up to 3 GW, including Aula Energy's acquisition of Lightsource BP's Australian portfolio: 1,037 MW of operating solar alongside 800 MW of development-stage BESS.

Elsewhere, Octopus Australia acquired Hanworth BESS (1.2 GW, NSW) from Enervest, and Dunmore Solar and BESS (450 MW combined, QLD) from Samsung C&T. Flow Power took ownership of Dunedoo Solar and BESS (115 MW combined, NSW) from German developer ib vogt. Engie bought out Eku Energy's remaining 30% stake in Hazelwood BESS (150 MW, VIC).

In equity investment, KKR committed AU$603 million this quarter to HMC Capital's Energy Transition Platform, backing a 6.3 GW wind and BESS pipeline. As a result, KKR's Australian footprint now extends to utility-scale BESS.