The Clean Energy Finance Corporation has made a $150 million investment in New Zealand-based asset manager Morrison & Co to spearhead clean energy standards across Australia.
The $150 million will be used to acquire and manage a range of assets where there is potential for significant improvements in their energy efficiency profile.
Morrison & Co’s specialist $1 billion "green" infrastructure fund will acquire and manage a range of assets ranging from hospitals to data centres, retirement and aged care accommodation to student housing and renewable energy.
CEFC said the infrastructure sector contributed almost half the greenhouse gas emissions in Australia and the investments it was making were a bid to improve the energy efficiency profile of the assets it acquires.
Related: CEFC Triples Investment in Australia's Clean Energy
“The scale of Australia’s infrastructure sector means it is just not possible for one investor to finance the kind of sustainability measures required to make a meaningful impact on overall emissions,” CEFC investment funds lead Rory Lonergan said.
“That’s why it is critical that investors such as Morrison & Co take the lead in establishing specialist clean energy focused investable products.”
“By investing in this fund we are providing other sustainability-focused institutional investors with a new way to tap into this market while also delivering on their own sustainability goals.”
The CEFC has previously invested $150m to the IFM Australian Infrastructure Fund to cut emissions at seaports, airports and electricity infrastructure assets.
The green bank has also invested $150 million in debt finance for the Moorebank Logistics Park, to remove emissions-intensive trucks from Australian roads.
CEFC intends to commit up to $100 million in equity to APPF Commercial which will go on to bankroll sustainable practices for assets like the new Melbourne Quarter precinct, as well as other assets across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, ACT and South Australia.
