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Brookfield to invest in $13.4bn

Australian renewables plan

AUSTRALIA BROOKFIELD Asset Management is leading Origin is uniquely positioned to benefit from
a consortium that will invest at least AUD20bn the electrification of the Australian economy,
This is part of the deal ($13.4bn) during the next decade to construct and can provide products such as electric vehi-
in which Canada’s up to 14 GW of new renewable generation and cle (EV) chargers, heat pumps and rooftop solar,
Brookfield and three storage facilities in Australia. continued Brookfield.
partners are taking over This is part of the deal in which Canada’s The natural gas element of the deal will
Australian utility Origin Brookfield and three partners are taking over enable much deeper renewable penetration in
Energy for $10.2bn Australian utility Origin Energy for $10.2bn. power grids whilst ensuring grid resilience, the
The take-over is by Brookfield and two Sin- asset-management company said. This supports
gaporean companies, GIC and Temasek, and the the deeper electrification of economies, which in
liquefied natural gas (LNG) company MidOcean turn is a crucial element of any roadmap to net
Energy. zero, it said.
Origin is Australia’s largest integrated power Some analysts say that natural gas and LNG
generator and energy retailer with a 24% mar- are useful as a bridge to a renewables future,
ket share of the national electricity market and while others note gas’s carbon emissions and say
owner of a 27.5% stake in the Australia Pacific that a modern integrated grid backed by stor-
LNG (APLNG) project. age will be adequate to back up the variability of
“We are focused on wind right now because wind and solar.
Australia already has 20 GW installed on roof- “As the energy transition gathers pace, what’s
top solar,” Brookfield’s Asia-Pacific CEO, Stewart needed is increasingly clear: faster deployment
Upson, told Bloomberg. “Adding more solar to of large-scale renewables, the accelerated,
the mix without the right long-duration battery responsible retirement of coal generation, and an
storage doesn’t work.” interim, supportive role for gas as the depend-
Solar tends to generate most in the early able back-up fuel,” said Mark Carney, chair of
afternoon, but wind can produce power at other Brookfield, head of transition investing and for-
times and is thus more appealing, he added in mer Bank of England governor.
an interview. Brookfield’s Upson said: “The acquisition of
The build-out of renewables and storage will Origin Energy presents Brookfield with a unique
enable the retirement of Eraring, one of Austral- opportunity to invest at least AUD20bn and
ia’s largest coal plants, and reduce reliance on a make a material difference to achieving Austral-
carbon-intensive grid, reducing absolute emis- ia’s net zero targets.”
sions produced by the business by more than He concluded: “We will build on the success
70% by 2030, said Brookfield in a statement. of our global renewable power and transition
It will also result in a more cost-effective and business where we have a mandate to ‘go where
flexible portfolio of power generation assets that the emissions are’ in putting billions of dollars
will benefit Origin’s energy retail customers, the behind an executable plan to reduce emissions
investor said. at Origin.” ™

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