Brookfield sees investors joining Us$13bil green push

NEW YORK: Brookfield Asset Management Inc expects to win backing from other institutional investors to fund A$20bil (Us$12.8bil or Rm60.2bil) of projects aimed at making Origin Energy Ltd the key provider of clean power in Australia.

The fund is leading an A$18.4bil (Rm55.5bil) offer to acquire the utility with a programme to invest heavily through 2030 to add more capacity in renewable power and energy storage.

While Brookfield’s Global Transition Fund will contribute to that spending, it’s likely “other institutional partners come in alongside us,” the company’s Asia-pacific chief executive officer Stewart Upson said in an interview.

Part of Origin’s appeal to Brookfield is the fact it has a fleet of gas-fired power stations that can act as peaker plants – ramping up supply quickly to supplement renewable energy generation at times of high electricity demand, according to Upson.

Having those capabilities will allow Origin to add more clean power without jeopardising the stability of the electricity grid, and give the utility time to work on ultimately replacing the gas facilities with cleaner alternatives.

It’s unlikely there would be additional investment in gas plants, he said.

“What that means is you can develop renewable power and use that gas peaking as firming capacity while you’re developing longer-term firming in the form of batteries and pumped hydro,” Upson said.