“Australia is the place to be:” Italian and Japanese energy giant seal deal for renewable expansion

Potentia Energy, a joint venture of Italian energy giant Enel and its Japanese parter Inpex, says it has finalised the purchase of a majority stake in Bright Energy, which will deliver a significant expansion of its Australian renewable portfolio.

“Australia is the place to be for renewables,” Potentia CEO Werther Esposito said at the Clean Energy Investment Forum on Thursday after the deal closure was announced.

“I have experience in different markets, in different continents over the last 15 years and and Australia is the place to be because there is a strong appetite from international investors to in Australia,” noting that $80 billion will be required to get the country to its target of 82 per cent renewables by the end of the decade.

Potentia has acquired an 80.1 per cent stake in BEI – from superannuation fund Cbus Super and CVC DIF – which owns assets in Western Australia, including the Warradarge wind farm, and two of the original wind and solar assets in the state – the Greenough River solar farm and the Albany Grassmere wind farm.

Warradarge is to be expanded by another 103 MW with the addition of another 30 turbines that will make it the biggest in the state. It is already recognised as one of the best performing wind assets in the country.