Lal Lal acquisition puts wind in the sails of Atmos Renewables
Atmos Renewables’ (Atmos) acquisition of a majority stake in Victoria’s Lal Lal Wind Farm will boost its generation capacity beyond 1 gigawatt of operating capacity, it announced today.
Atmos is acquiring a 60% interest in Lal Lal Wind Farms Partnership (LLWF), from InfraRed Capital Partners and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group.
LLWF generates a total of 228 megawatts from two wind farms – Yendon Wind Farm (144MW) and Elaine Wind Farm (84MW) – located approximately 20kms southeast of Ballarat, Victoria. Both wind farms are fully operational, having reached practical completion in April. LLWF revenue is underpinned by fixed price energy offtake arrangements and green certificate offtake arrangements with a variety of investment grade counterparties.
Nigel Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Atmos, said the latest deal signals the company’s commitment to becoming a leader in the renewable energy economy.
“Atmos Renewables is in a sweet spot: we are a well-capitalised player in a fast-growing market with significant tailwinds. We have strong support from our investor, a significant, diversified asset base across wind and solar, and climate policy certainty from the Australian Federal Government to support the growth of the sector,” Mr Baker said.
Atmos, established as an investment vehicle for Igneo Infrastructure Partners in 2020, is an owner of utility scale renewable energy assets across the Australian National Electricity Market. The firm supports Australia’s transition to a decarbonised energy market and has an existing portfolio of seven operating wind farms, five operating solar farms and a pipeline of battery storage projects in development. Post-acquisition of the 60% stake in LLWF, Atmos will have >1GW of operating capacity by economic interest.
“We have a mandate from our investor to grow the company’s footprint in the renewable energy sector, and the addition of the Lal Lal Wind Farms is another step towards achieving that goal,” Mr Baker said.
Mr Baker said the experienced management team is expanding fast to support the business’ growth appetite. Mr Baker said, “To date, Atmos has been focused on acquiring operating assets, but now we are also building our development capabilities and a pipeline for growth. This will require new hires across development, asset management and finance to support the business’ ongoing success and Australia’s energy transition.”
About Atmos Renewables
Atmos Renewables is a developer, owner and operator of utility scale renewable energy assets across the Australian National Electricity Market. Founded by Igneo Infrastructure Partners in 2020, Atmos Renewables was established to invest in and support Australia’s transition to a decarbonised energy market. Atmos has interests in wind and solar assets in all regions of the NEM, generating 1.4TWh of electricity annually and powering over 350,000 homes (prior to the addition of LLWF). For more information, visit atmosrenewables.com.au
About Igneo Infrastructure Partners
Igneo is an autonomous investment team in the First Sentier Investors Group. It invests in high-quality, mature, mid-market infrastructure companies in the utilities and transport sectors in the UK, Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Operating since 1994, the team works closely with portfolio companies to create long-term sustainable value through innovation, a focus on ESG and proactive asset management.
Igneo manages US$14.6 bn worth of assets (as at 30 June 2022) on behalf of more than 120 investors around the world.
For more information, visit igneoip.com
Important information
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