Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) has signed a MoU with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to explore opportunities for renewable energy and decarbonisation equipment production in Australia. The MoU seeks to reduce the risk and accelerate the country’s energy transformation by enabling the country to locally manufacture clean energy technology, such as PV modules, long-term battery storage, and wind energy components.
The two companies will work together to investigate opportunities for direct capital investment and the advancement of skills, knowledge, and expertise in the country’s renewable energy sector. Further, the companies will assess the possibility of constructing advanced manufacturing facilities in Australia to produce or gather the equipment required for the development of renewable energy projects and to supply it to all market participants, including Origin Energy Markets.
Recently, in July 2023, Inpex, a Japanese oil and gas exploration and production company, agreed to acquire a 50 per cent stake in the Australian operations of Italian utility Enel. Inpex will purchase a stake in Enel Green Power Australia and Enel Green Power Australia Trust as part of the acquisition.
In the same month, Ocean Winds, a 50-50 joint venture (JV) between Spanish renewables firm EDP and French energy giant Engie, submitted an application to build offshore wind projects off the coast of Victoria, Australia. Ocean Winds, through its bidding company High Sea Wind, submitted three applications in Victoria’s Gippsland region for wind projects totaling about 4 GW of renewable energy capacity.
REGlobal’s Views: Australia’s renewable energy market is expanding at a rapid scale and it requires sufficient local equipment manufacturing capabilities to support its growing renewable energy industry. The country currently has limited capacities for equipment manufacturing and such projects will help the nation to build its own supply chains and reduce import dependency.
