Germany-based investment manager PATRIZIA and one of Japan’s largest trading companies, Mitsui, have committed to invest up to A$70 million ($44 million) in an Australian renewables firm through their latest joint venture, marking the first deployment of the fund since its first close earlier this year.
The investment, which was made through the APAC Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (A-SIF), comprises an equity interest in YES Group, a South Australia-based energy solutions provider which offers a wide range of services covering energy markets services and retailing, project origination and energy performance contracting, and high-voltage services and asset management.
The longtime partner has also committed to funding the development of an unnamed portfolio of predominantly small-scale solar photovoltaic power generation and battery energy storage solutions throughout regional Australia, according to a statement on Monday.
The portfolio will have the potential to deliver a capacity of over 150MW once fully operational. The renewables portfolio is expected to offset over 335,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year (compared to coal-fired energy) and provide sustainable, green power to approximately 65,000 households.
“The decision to focus on a portfolio of small-scale generation assets will ensure diversification across the distribution network, shorter and predictable construction times, less transmission losses, less regulatory risk, and the advantage of being able to spread assets geographically to target sites with higher solar irradiance,” the statement said.
The development locations in rural Australia will help make use of under-utilised or redundant land and bring employment opportunities for local and skilled workers throughout a circa 30-year lifecycle. The investment in batteries, both solar-integrated and standalone, will provide additional support for the grid during Australia’s period of energy transition.
PATRIZIA and YES Group have worked together since 2020, delivering approved projects of over 60MW with a further pipeline of 70MW identified, in addition to the target of over 150MW through A-SIF.
A-SIF is the second fund from the PATRIZIA-Mitsui collaboration which gathered $110 million in equity investment for its first close in January this year, targeting to raise up to $1 billion in the final close. The vehicle focuses on mid-market brownfield infrastructure in developed markets across the Asia Pacific, including Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand.
“Our vision in APAC for both PATRIZIA’s real assets platform and our flagship mid-market fund is to collaborate with like-minded investors and regional partners to build a portfolio of infrastructure assets that deliver positive sustainable outcomes,” said Saji Anantakrishnan, head of infrastructure for Australia and Asia at PATRIZIA.