Swiss investment firm to fund 1.3GW Australian pipeline

AUSTRALIA: Swiss investment firm Partners Group will invest A$700 million (US$529 million) towards the development of a 1.3GW pipeline.

Construction underway at the Sapphire site in New South Wales, Australia (pic credit: CWP Renewables)

The grassroots renewable energy platform will consist of wind, solar PV and battery storage projects being built across Australia over the next four years, Partners Group stated. The investment firm will work alongside CWP Renewables to develop the portfolio.

It will include the 270MW Sapphire wind farm, which will be powered by 75 Vestas V126-3.6 turbines, and 135MW Crudine Ridge project, which will use 3.63MW GE turbines. Both projects are in New South Wales.

Partners Group announced its A$250 million investment in Sapphire in 2016. Construction is due to be completed by October 2018.

Construction at Crudine Ridge, meanwhile, was due to start in May, and to be completed by September 2019.

The other projects in the grassroots renewable energy platform have not yet been specified.

Partners Group has developed about 2GW of solar and wind energy capacity on behalf of clients in the Asia-Pacific region, it claimed. Previous investments include the 240MW Ararat wind farm in Australia.

The investment manager also being built in the German North Sea as well as a in the 731.5MW Borssele III & IV site off the coast of the Netherlands.