A French-backed renewables developer will proceed with the second stage of a mega $4 billion wind farm in Victoria, the biggest in the country, defying the twin challenges of rising costs and an absence of signed-up customers.

TagEnergy has inked a financing deal with the government’s green bank and a range of domestic and overseas commercial lenders for the more than $1.8 billion second stage of the 1.33-gigawatt Golden Plains project near Geelong.