Squadron Energy has sealed a deal to acquire Australian renewable energy company CWP Renewables from private markets firm Partners Group for an undisclosed price.
Owned by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest, Squadron Energy has reportedly agreed to a price of over A$4bn ($2.7bn) as consideration.
The deal will expand the renewable energy operating portfolio of Squadron Energy to 2.4GW, while its Australian development pipeline will increase to 20GW.
Earlier this week, it was reported widely that Origin Energy and its Canadian partner Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) pulled out of the race to acquire CWP Renewables. The other contenders for acquiring the renewable energy company were reportedly Iberdrola and Tilt Renewables.
Squadron Energy is part of the Tattarang group of companies and is said to be focussed on expediting Australia’s decarbonisation.
Andrew Forrest, who is also chairman of Tattarang, said: “Squadron is proud to bring a very significant portion of Australia’s renewable energy assets home to local ownership. It means that Squadron has the renewable energy critical mass to help Australia step beyond fossil fuels.”
CWP Renewables, which is a vertically integrated renewables energy developer, is involved in constructing wind, solar, and battery facilities.
Presently, it has an operating capacity of wind power of more than 1.1GW. Its notable operating assets include the 270MW Sapphire wind farm, the 435MW Murra Warra I & II wind farms, and the 142MW Crudine Ridge wind farm.
CWP Renewables is set to build four more wind farms in New South Wales with a combined capacity of more than 750MW.
Besides, the company has a construction-ready wind farm with 414MW capacity, 180MW solar farm, two battery facilities, and a firming power station that can run on hydrogen, biofuels and hydrogen gas blends.
The company will be integrated into the existing business of Squadron Energy, which includes the latter’s majority stake in Windlab, a wind energy development company.
Squadron Energy expects the acquisition to provide it the scale it needs on the Australian east coast to cope with the high demand from large commercial and industrial customers for reliable clean energy.
Squadron Energy CEO Eva Hanly said: “When large industrial and commercial customers come to us, they are looking for efficient and firmed renewable power at scale.
“With this acquisition, we will develop and operate an extensive geographic portfolio of night and daytime wind, solar and storage assets that will ensure reliability of supply for our customers.”
The closing of the deal is subject to the receipt of customary regulatory approvals.
