Australian airports join A$700 million renewable energy pact

(Bloomberg) — Two airports and a major port in Australia have signed a A$700 million ($467 million) renewable energy pact, the country’s largest such program across multiple states and sectors.

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The power purchase agreement covers airports in Sydney and Adelaide, the Port of Melbourne, oil and gas company Lochard Energy Group Plc and a network of medical and health facilities across the country.

Clean energy companies Iberdrola SA and Squadron Wind Energy Development Pty are set to join others in providing 500 gigawatt-hours of energy per year under contracts lasting seven to nine years.

IFM Investors Pty and QIC Ltd., two of Australia’s largest infrastructure funds, helped negotiate the deal, which is in the final stages as investors race to reduce emissions in their portfolios. The government has proposed introducing new regulations from next year that will require large enterprises and financial institutions to disclose information such as greenhouse gas emissions and reduction targets.

“Importantly, it provides a roadmap to help more infrastructure assets transition to renewable energy and accelerate the sector’s emissions reduction efforts,” Michael Hanna, director of infrastructure at IFM Investors, said in a statement to Bloomberg.

IFM has set an interim emissions reduction target for 2030 of 1.16 million tonnes of CO2 compared to 2019 levels across its infrastructure portfolio. A spokesman said QIC has committed to achieving net zero Scope 1 and 2 targets by 2040 for two of its infrastructure funds.

The program, which also includes Origin Energy Ltd. and Stanwell Corp., is expected to save about 260,000 tons of CO2 annually by 2025, IFM and QIC said in a statement.

(Corrects line relating to QIC’s net zero target in 6th paragraph.)