The private infrastructure arm of CBRE Investment Management has invested in Australian renewable-energy provider Green Peak Energy.
Green Peak Energy provides rooftop solar power for commercial and industrial companies.
Asif Hussain, managing director for direct private infrastructure investments, said CBRE IM had been looking for an opportunity to invest in Australia’s renewable energy sector for several years, and had spoken to other companies before settling on Green Peak.
He told IPE Real Assets: “It meets our desired equity amount on investment size. We are looking at this as a platform, and we hope to help it grow within Australia and potentially in other markets, like New Zealand, over time.
“We see real market opportunity to grow organically. Green Peak has a pipeline of projects and that pipeline will increase over time. There will also be other players in the market that could be potential acquisition opportunities.”
Hussain said the Australian renewable-energy market was very attractive, with the country still heavily dependent on coal yet having plans to move to alternative sources of energy in the future.
“One way to fill that gap is from distributed [solar] energy generation,” he said. “There are a lot of rooftop solar panels in Australia – I think one in four households have installed solar panels on their roof.”
Hussain said commercial and industrial tenants are increasingly looking to decarbonise. “Users are also looking to lower their overall energy bills, and having energy produced onsite is a great way to meet energy security needs, especially for heavy energy users,” he said.
CBRE IM is invested in renewable energy in several countries, with its biggest exposure in North America and Europe.
It made the investment in Green Peak Energy for one of its funds and a separately-managed account.
Myles Carrucan, CEO at Green Peak Energy, said it was “an important milestone” in the development of the company, which was founded in 2017.
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