Institutional investors Mint a new wind, solar and storage developer in Australia

New Zealand infrastructure investor Infratil has teamed up with the Commonwealth Superannuation Corp to create a new wind, solar and storage developer in Australia called Mint Renewables.

The new company will be headed by former Vestas Australia chief Peter Cowling and will be seeded with $300 million in capital that is expected to be invested over the next three to five years.

The new company replaces the Tilt Renewables portfolio that was sold to last year to the Powering Australia Renewables Fund, partly owned by AGL. Infratil received $NZ2 billion for its 65 per cent share in Tilt, which developed the Snowtown and Dundonnell wind farms among others.

The former Tilt CEO Deion Campbell will sit on the board of Mint, along with former Tilt head of development Clayton Delmarter, and two other executives from Morrison & Co, which will be the investment manager.

Infratil is hoping to replicate its success in Tilt, and the US focused Longroad, along with its other vehicles Genesis (Europe), Gurin Energy (Asia) and Manawa Energy (New Zealand).

Infratil owns a 73% interest in Mint Renewables, with CSC owning the remaining 27%.

“We have shown that a long-term approach to value creation can deliver outsized returns, and that is the objective with Mint Renewables,” Infratil CEO Jason Boyes said

“It is pleasing to be teaming up with CSC again, this time in their home market.” CSC is the super fund for the public service, and federal politicians.

Cowling, who is also chair of the Clean Energy Council, has over two decades of experience in the sector, and led sales of more than 7GW of wind capacity in Australia and New Zealand for Vestas, and before that for GE, Suzlon and other companies.

“It is a very exciting market and it has a very long way to go,” Cowling told RenewEconomy. “We find ourselves no longer limited by policy inaction, now its about weaving your way through grid connections, supply chain and planning challenges.

“There will be players who are better and worse at doing that. Successful companies will need to be a lot smarter and more capable  …. and Australia will be fighting with the US and Europe to get machines.”

Cowling says Mint will look at wind, solar and storage opportunities, but is not obsessed with large projects and will be looking at opportunities in varying sizes. “There is a lot of brag-a-watts out there,” he said.

Campbell said it is exciting to re-enter the Australian renewables market with highly aligned shareholders, a flexible approach, deep experience, and very strong credentials.

“One thing we know is that Australia’s energy transition will not be straightforward. Being nimble and disciplined as we deploy the capital at our disposal will be important and give us an advantage over less agile, larger players,” he said in a statement.