Australian super giants take ownership of landmark wind project in asset and equity deal

Atmos Renewables, an Australian renewable and storage developer now owned by two local superannuation funds, has taken full ownership of the 316 megawatt (MW) Hornsdale wind farm in South Australia, one of the country’s landmark wind projects.

The purchase of the outstanding 76.6 per cent stake in Hornsdale was announced on Tuesday, along with news that super fund Cbus has also bought a stake in Atmos from its founding shareholder, Igneo Infrastructure Partners, which is part of the First Sentier super fund group.

Hornsdale was the biggest wind farm in South Australia until recently, when it was overtaken by another Neoen asset, the 412.5 MW Goyder South project which is still moving through commissioning.

Hornsdale was built in three stages, each underpinned by a contract with the ACT government that helped it reach its target of net 100 per cent renewables by 2020.

It also plays a key role in South Australia’s energy mix, which boasts an average 75 per cent share of wind and solar in the last year and which leads the world in the uptake and integration of variable renewables.

The purchase of the Hornsdale wind farm does not include the 150 MW, 193 MWh Hornsdale battery, which is located next to the facility and which was the first battery of its scale to be built in Australia, and anywhere in the world.

The battery will be retained by Neoen’s new owner Brookfield, but the sale of the wind farm is part of that company’s stated intention to recycle Neoen’s assets. It has already sold Neoen’s Victoria portfolio to HMC Capital, although that sale was forced upon it by regulatory considerations.

The deal means that Atmos, funded in 2020, now has more than 1 gigawatt (GW) of “in-house” clean energy assets, and an interest in a total of 1.5 GW, with several gigawatts more under development, including the newly commenced 100 MW, 400 MWh Merredin battery project in Western Australia.

“This is a milestone that reflects not just scale, but operational maturity,” says Nigel Baker, the CEO of Atmos Renewables.

“Managing more than 1GW of clean energy assets in-house signals that we’re here for the long haul and set up for further growth – with the people, systems and experience to operate responsibly and efficiently at scale.”

Baker later told Renew Economy that Atmos hopes to close out a couple of new battery storage projects by the end of the year and is also working on another major wind project.

Meanwhile, Cbus Super says it will buy a minority equity stake in Atmos Renewables (Atmos) from Igneo to give its members “greater exposure to a diverse range of renewable energy assets” and to support new projects.

Igneo will maintain decision making control of Atmos, and continues to invest on behalf of a number of super funds, including Cbus. No further details of the transaction were released.

The Merredin battery is expected to begin operations by mid-2027, and Cbus says the diversity of assets and pipeline project across the country – in both the National Electricity Market and the W.A. market – made it an attractive investment.

“First and foremost, we believe this investment will stack up on returns, but also has the additional benefit of supporting a sustainable energy future for Australians.” Cbus chief investment officer Leigh Gavin said.

“As well as providing long-term investment returns, the investment supports Australia’s renewable energy industry, a sector that employs many Cbus members. And importantly our portfolio gains more exposure to Australia’s energy transition via a diverse range of renewable energy assets.”

Cbus says it has more than $2.1 billion invested in renewables and enabling infrastructure reinforcing its commitment to the energy transition.

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