QIC leads $500m renewables deal to make electricity grid greener
QIC has entered a renewable energy deal worth up to $500 million that would lead to big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and and accelerate the greening of the electricity grid.
Iberdrola has bought the rights to the Mount James project
IFM Investors was also part of the deal which would facilitate the supply of about 400 megawatts of renewable energy each year to major infrastructure assets in NSW and Victoria.
In its first stage the seven infrastructure assets would buy from Origin about 132GWh of renewable energy a year which QIC said would be enough to power 23,000 homes and save 85,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions – the equivalent of 50,000 cars.
“By 2025 the entire program is expected to save around 250,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually, the equivalent of reducing the carbon footprint of every home in a regional town the size of Ballarat or Toowoomba to zero,” QIC said.
Other major infrastructure assets were expected to join the scheme over the next few months and QIC said the investment created “could pave the way for further investment in renewable projects”.
QIC head of global infrastructure Ross Israel said the deal followed on from the $4 billion it invested in last year in sustainable infrastructure for its clients.
QIC and IFM were facilitators of the deal and would not take fees.
The benefits would mean that the infrastructure assets which were currently exposed to market price volatility would save about $11 million in savings. Across the life of the deal, savings were expected to be as much as $30 million.
The purchase plan has an estimated cost of $500 million.
