Brookfield Asset Management has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Shanghai-headquartered Envision Group to explore localising renewable power and decarbonisation manufacturing supply chains in Australia.

Under the MoU, Brookfield and Envision will explore direct capital investment and the contribution of skills, knowledge and expertise to the Australian renewable energy industry.

Eventually, the partners hope to set up facilities that can produce or assemble Australian-made equipment needed for local renewable developments.

Brookfield said locally-manufactured equipment could include wind turbines, towers and blades as well as assembly lines for grid-scale or electric vehicle batteries and hydrogen electrolysers.

The MoU with Envision was one of the key initiatives being undertaken by Brookfield to bring global manufacturing technology and expertise to Australia, said the company, which in March agreed to buy Australia’s Origin Energy in a co-investment deal with US investor, EIG.

As part of its proposed acquisition of Origin’s Energy Markets division, Brookfield, along with its institutional partners and global institutional investors GIC and Temasek, has set out a plan to invest between A$20bn and A$30bn over the next ten years to accelerate its energy transition in Australia.

Luke Edwards, head of Brookfield’s renewable power and transition business in Australia, said: “Amid the global transition to net zero, we want to make sure domestic renewables developers, including Origin’s Energy Markets business, are in the best position possible when it comes to securing the components we need to build critical infrastructure that reduces our emissions.” 

Kane Xu, global vice president of Envision, said Envision takes “pride in providing a broad spectrum of system solutions to assist our partners on their net zero journey”.

“We look forward to exploring ways in which we can support Brookfield and Origin Energy Markets’ extensive decarbonisation programme, as well as Australia’s broader energy transition plans, to expedite the country’s emission reduction and path to a net zero future,” he said.

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