CIP launches Australian subsidiary eyeing 6GW of solar PV and wind

The new subsdiairy is based in Newcastle, New South Wales. Image: Voyager Renewables (LinkedIn).

Danish renewable energy investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has launched a new Australian subsidiary, with eyes to deliver 6GW of new solar PV and wind energy in the next 10-years.

Based in Newcastle, the second-largest city in New South Wales, the new organisation, Voyager Renewables, will work on renewable energy projects in regional New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria.

The subsidiary will also look to develop energy storage solutions across Australia as part of its intended portfolio.

The new company is developing three projects in Australia. These include the 450MW Sunnyside Wind Farm, located in New South Wales’ South-West Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), and the 1GW Wester Tablelands Wind Farm, in Victoria. This project will feature a co-located battery energy storage system (BESS); however, the capacity has not been revealed.

Voyager’s final project, the 2GW+ Energy Oasis in New South Wales, is predominantly an onshore wind project but will feature a co-located solar PV power plant with an accompanying BESS. The capacity of these has also not been disclosed.

Danish investment giant CIP entered the Australian market in 2017 by investing in the 2.2GW Star of the South offshore wind farm in Gippsland, southern Victoria. CIP is also supporting the development of the 5GW Murchison Renewable Hydrogen Project, based in mid-west Western Australia, aiming to combine solar PV and wind generation to produce green hydrogen for exports to Japan and South Korea.

CIP’s global solar PV portfolio

CIP is one of the largest financial players in the global renewable energy market. In recent years, it has invested in several significant solar PV and energy storage projects. Indeed, the organisation has over 120GW of total capacity in its development pipeline, with US$50 billion being invested to date.

Perhaps one of its most notable moves was the majority share acquisition of South African independent power producer (IPP) Mulilo Energy Holdings in March 2023. CIP assumed control of Mulilo and its assets, which at the time comprised a 25GW pipeline of onshore wind, solar PV, and storage as well as 440MW of operational PV and wind projects.

At the time, Niels Holst, a partner at CIP, said the acquisition of Mulilo represented an “attractive opportunity to invest in a growing developer”.

In more recent times, a consortium consisting of CIP, AP Møller Capital, and TE H2 revealed plans last week (29 October) to build a 1GW renewable energy facility in Morocco that will produce green ammonia.

Located near the Atlantic coast in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region, the project will feature 1GW of solar PV and wind capacity to power the production of green hydrogen, which will be converted into 200,000 tonnes of green ammonia for exportation to the European market.

Ammonia is one of the primary methods being explored for large-scale hydrogen transportation, with the EU having established a target within its REPowerEU Strategy of importing 10 million tonnes of clean hydrogen by 2030.

CIP is also seeking opportunities within emerging global markets, and in December 2023, it launched its second Growth Markets Fund (GMF) with plans to deliver around 10GW of renewable energy capacity. This would represent around US$10 billion of total capital infrastructure investment.

The Growth Markets Fund II will focus on funding large-scale solar PV, battery energy storage, power-to-X and onshore and offshore wind in “high-growth, middle-income markets” across Asia, Latin America and EMEA.

Specifically, the fund will target 15 markets, of which CIP named five: India, Vietnam, Philippines, Mexico, and South Africa.