Colonial backs solar and battery roll-out in major shopping centres

Listed commercial property landlord, Charter Hall, has unveiled plans to roll out up to 9MW of solar and 12MWh of battery storage across 15 of its major shopping centres, in a program backed by one of Australia’s leading wealth management funds.

The ambitious commercial solar and storage program will be carried out in partnership with CleanPeak Energy, which will source, develop and operate the projects – although a small number will go through a separate contract with Solgen Energy, backed by Macquarie.

In turn, CleanPeak – a key player in last year’s installation of a massive 3.5MW of rooftop solar at the processing plant of Primo Smallgoods in the Brisbane – will launch into the Charter Hall program backed by the financial clout of Colonial First State Global Asset Management.

The AFR reported on Thursday that CFSGAM had invested $100 million in the commercial rooftop solar and battery system venture alongside CleanPeak, to accelerate its expansion in the booming commercial solar sector.

The Financial Review said CleanPeak’s existing solar projects for Charter Hall Retail REIT and meat processor JBS had been brought into the new CPE Renewable Investment Trust, which would be 75-80 per cent owned by CFSGAM.

CleanPeak co-founder Philip Graham, a former investment banker, told the paper the trust would over time deploy some $250 million into solar and battery storage projects, with the equity from CFSGAM supplemented by debt.

To read the full story on RenewEconomy sister site, One Step Off The Grid, click here…