funding announcement, page-9

I'd say you're right on the money SP3.

Con has played it very shrewdly. There is a lot of leverage created by having China, India and the US in one corner and the local power generators in the other.

The Vic Gov. would want to maintain the states competitive edge with regard to energy costs (inputs/outputs) as well as creating jobs via exports. The power generators would have needed more incentive than just emissions reductions.
It could be that all parties were brought together to execute a plan, the big picture.
ESI, as SP3 reported from the AGM, doesn’t see a necessity in acquiring brown coal reserves. The funding draw down, as stated, will be used to design a scaled up Coldry plant, likely to be situated on a power generating site with abundant brown coal reserves for both export and domestic use via a JV with a local power Company. This could be duplicated on several sites in Victoria, to meet ESI export targets.

It will be interesting to see what Fortrend do with the allocated shares from the draw down. Its unlikely they'll be long term holders ( other than the options), however as the ESI story unfolds and risk is reduced, institutions will be looking for large holding to acquire and Fortrend is aware this is likely to be the case. They would have planned their exit strategy from the time they signed up to provide the facility. In the not too distant future the power generators may come knocking on Fortrend's door!

Regards
RBA