Australian property manager goes 100% renewable with major wind and solar PPA

Australian property investment management company Charter Hall Group has announced a switch to 100% renewable energy to power its operations, a move the company is making via a wind and solar power purchase deal with global giant Engie.

The PPA, announced on Thursday, signs Charter Hall up to a seven-year contract, starting in 2024, to buy 151GWh of renewable energy a year from Engie – enough to power roughly 26,000 homes – to power 152 sites.

That solar and wind energy will come from a mix of Engie’s projects, including the South Australia 119MW Willogoleche wind farm and the 214MW Woolooga solar farm in Queensland, with the other assets yet to be announced.

Charter Hall managing director and CEO David Harrison said the deal to source “secure competitively priced, renewable electricity” from Engie would deliver long-term benefits to its partners, customers and communities.

“Not only will this PPA reduce Charter Hall’s carbon emissions by 70 per cent when the partnership becomes active in 2024, it will also ensure we remain on-track to reach net zero carbon in operation (Scope 1 and 2), on or before 2030,” Harrison said.

“Further, our investment in procurement of renewable electricity will assist Australia’s transition to a low carbon economy and accelerate the industry’s growth and potential to secure new and improved renewable technologies, to benefit generations to come.”

Charter Hall in 2019 made its own efforts to green up its property portfolio, including the installation of up to 9MW of solar and 12MWh of battery storage across 15 of its major shopping centres, in a program backed by Colonial First State Global Asset Management.

Engie, meanwhile, has notched up some impressive and sophisticated PPAs in the Australian market, including with PepsiCo Australia, and with mining supplier Wier Minerals.

“Innovative, long-term agreements such as this market-leading PPA with Charter Hall also support investment in new, renewable energy capacity, which is a priority for Engie,” said the company’s Australia and New Zealand CEO, Andrew Hyland.