AirTrunk, European Energy sign exclusivity deal for 260 MW Hunter solar

Danish developer European Energy Australia has signed an exclusivity agreement with AirTrunk, the Sydney-based hyperscale data centre operator owned by a Blackstone-led consortium, to progress a 260 MW solar farm with an 800 MWh battery energy storage system in the Hunter region of New South Wales.

The package also includes a proposed 350 MWp wind project. All three assets would sit inside the Hunter-Central Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), the transmission corridor located 150 to 250 kilometres north of Sydney, where construction on grid infrastructure began in March 2026.

The companies anticipate commercial operation of the solar and battery projects by 2030. They are now negotiating a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) that would underwrite AirTrunk's electricity requirements across NSW.

What does the deal supply?

The anchor load is AirTrunk's proposed Kurri Kurri data centre campus: a $3.7 billion (USD 2.5 billion), 44,220 square metre, two-storey facility rated at 550 MW, planned for the former Kurri Kurri smelter site at Loxford in the Hunter Valley.

The exclusivity agreement, announced this week, positions European Energy as a lead developer in a partnership model that pairs new renewable generation directly with hyperscale demand rather than relying on merchant grid supply.

AirTrunk AVP Energy Sabooh Whitelaw framed the Hunter projects as one component of a much larger procurement task.

"The Hunter projects are an important step, but more renewable generation and firming will be needed to support Kurri Kurri and AirTrunk's wider NSW needs," Whitelaw said. "We'll continue working with developers and energy partners to progress further projects across Australia."

Which commitments sit behind it?

European Energy Australia Managing Director Catriona McLeod said the tech sector's engagement with renewable procurement is what makes projects of this scale financeable.

"Partnerships like this allow us to bring more renewables online and add more energy to the grid," McLeod said.

The agreement builds on an operating precedent. The companies' 31 MW Mulwala Solar Farm, officially opened this week, is now supplying renewable electricity to the NSW grid, and the partners said they will continue to explore further opportunities.

AirTrunk Founder and CEO Robin Khuda tied the deal to regulatory pressure on the data centre sector, which in NSW includes guidelines requiring large facilities to bring new clean generation with them rather than draw from existing supply.

"The Australian government's expectations and NSW's guidelines set a high bar for the industry. This partnership is an important step towards delivering on that commitment," Khuda said.

What happens next?

The solar, storage and wind projects remain announced rather than built: no financial close date, offtake price or capacity guarantee has been disclosed. The decisive milestone is the signing of the PPA under negotiation, which would convert the exclusivity agreement into contracted revenue and set the construction timetable against the 2030 commercial operation target.

Until that contract lands, the 550 MW Kurri Kurri campus's energy pathway — and the precedent it sets for matching NSW data centre growth with new generation — rests on a deal still being drafted.