Macquarie targets 4 GW of solar, wind and batteries with new energy business

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Macquarie Asset Management said the new Aula Energy will seek to develop, build, own and operate utility-scale wind, solar and integrated battery energy storage projects across the Australian and New Zealand markets.

The company said Aula will initially focus on 4 GW of planned projects spanning every state in Australia, with the first two projects expected to reach financial close in 2024.

Lachlan Creswell, head of Macquarie’s specialist Green Investments team for Australia and New Zealand, said this will be just the start with Aula looking to diversify and expand its portfolio with the initiative “underpinned by access to long-term capital.”

“Aula Energy offers Australian and international investors exposure to a unique and diversified portfolio at an important time for renewable energy markets in the region, in the context of increasing demand from commercial and industrial off-takers,” he said.

“The energy transition in Australia requires an acceleration in the deployment of new renewable generation … and we are excited to expand this work through Aula Energy.”

Sydney-based Macquarie said the Aula business model has been designed to span the full “develop, build, own, operate” project lifecycle while “continually sourcing a pipeline of new projects and innovating as customer requirements, technologies, markets, and policies evolve.”

The first of the company’s projects include the planned 372 MW Boulder Creek wind farm being developed near Rockhampton in Queensland with construction expected to begin in 2024. It is also targeting up to 2.4 GW of large-scale wind projects in Western Australia to be developed in partnership with Green Wind Renewables, that are in the early stages of development.

Aula said its expected portfolio will also include developments in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, “the details of which will be announced as they progress.”

Led by former AusNet senior executive Chad Hymas, Aula is the latest in Macquarie’s suite of specialist businesses which include offshore wind specialist Corio and battery storage platform Eku Energy.

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