FRV Australia has emerged as the likely winner of the auction for Statkraft’s 1.7 GW portfolio of Australian renewables assets, according to three sources familiar.

The participants are aiming to close the transaction by Christmas, although two of the sources thought that the timetable could slip.

FRV is not yet nailed down as the winner but looks to be in a strong position, the sources said.

FRV Australia, which is owned by Lateef Energy and OMERS, is arguably one of the most successful solar developers in Australia. In July it refinanced AUD 1.2bn of debt linked to a 1 GW portfolio comprised of eight solar farms.

But with utility solar under increasing pressure from Australia’s burgeoning rooftop solar sector, FRV has been looking to pivot, the sources said.

In two hitherto unreported aspects of the sale, ICA is working on a stapled financing for the 73 MW Woolsthorpe wind farm and planning to sell its 50% stake in the wind farm to the winning bidder in the Enerfin auction, two of the sources and an additional source said.

None of the Enerfin Australia pipeline has been built yet but Woolsthorpe should be ready to build once it has been financed.

The project is backed by a Snowy Hydro power purchase agreement.

Final bids for the renewables portfolio were submitted in September.

Sources told Infralogic in August that FRV Australia, Swedish renewables developer OX2 and Palisade Investment Partners were among those bidding for the business, which also includes a development team.

Palisade decided not to submit a final bid for the assets.

Rothschild, which is running the process on behalf of Statkraft, was scheduled to receive proposals at the end of September but final bids were delayed while bidders finished their due diligence on Woolsthorpe.

Statkraft is selling the assets after buying Spanish developer Enerfin and deciding that some of its international assets are non-core.

Rothschild launched the Project Sancho process in May, according to a teaser seen by Infralogic.

Enerfin’s assets include the 165 MW Stony Creek wind farm in Queensland, which should be ready to build in 2025. In addition, the 400 MW Kings Plain wind project in New South Wales; the 250 MW Tara wind project in Queensland; the 600 MW Booligal wind project and the 200 MW Booligal solar project in New South Wales are due to be built in the following years.

One of the big attractions of the sale is the development team, a source has previously told Infralogic.

For parties who either do not have an Australian wind development team or would like to add to the one that they have got, the source said this could be a good bolt-on acquisition.

Officials and spokespeople at FRV Australia, ICA and Statkraft did not respond to requests for comment.