Fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and Australian firm AGL Energy have established a A$2bn (€1.35bn) joint venture to develop and operate renewables and low-carbon assets.
GIP will own 49% of Energy Transition Investment Partnership (ETIP) and AGL will hold 51% through its coal arm, Accel Energy, which will be responsible for development projects.
Seven “foundation projects” have been identified, including wind farms, battery storage and ‘pumped hydro’ facilities, which will have a combined capacity of about 2.7 gigawatts.
It is anticipated that AGL’s proposed wind farm at Bowmans Creek in New South Wales and the Loy Yang battery in Victoria will be the first two projects developed.
GIP will acquire 49% of the development pipeline for A$94m, which includes an up-front cash payment of A$40m to Accel, with the balance to be utilised by Accel to fund its share of the ongoing investment in the development pipeline.
AGL CEO and managing director Graeme Hunt said the establishment of ETIP would support Accel in funding low-carbon developments whilst providing GIP exclusive access to a portfolio of investments.
“There was strong interest shown in ETIP by a number of globally renowned infrastructure investors, and we are excited to have selected GIP,” he said.
“If all the foundation projects in ETIP were to proceed, it would represent an investment of approximately A$4.7bn into the future of energy in Australia.”
GIP has a number of investments in Australia, including the Port of Melbourne, Sydney Airport and rail-freight business Pacific National.
