Prime Super adds two new wind farms to investment portfolio

Independent profit-to-members super fund Prime has added another two small wind farms to its investment portfolio, after buying up the Chepstowe and Maroona projects in Victoria.

Prime Super bought the two wind farms, sized 6MW and 6.8MW respectively, from co-owners Pro Ventum International, Impact Investment Group, and an investment arm of German renewables company BayWa r.e. called Fewione.

Prime Super says the acquisition of Chepstowe and Maroona brings its wind-energy portfolio to a total of five projects, all in Victoria, with a total generation capacity of 52MW.

The fund already owns Mortons Lane wind farm, acquired in 2021, and the Ferguson and Diapur wind farms, acquired in 2022.

“We look forward to continuing to expand our portfolio of climate-positive assets, and in doing so build on our history of delivering strong, long-term financial returns for our members,” said Prime Super CEO Lachlan Baird on Tuesday.

“We believe these new wind-energy acquisitions will help us continue to deliver strong performance for our members.”

The 6MW Chepstowe wind farm is located on farming land in Central Western Victoria and has been operational since April 2015. The 6.8MW Maroona wind farm is south of Ararat in Victoria and has been running since April 2018.

The two projects have been managed by Fezero (formerly Future Energy), whose first completed project was the award winning and globally recognsied Hepburn Community Wind Park – Australia’s first community owned wind farm.

Future Energy was bought in 2017 by German renewables company BayWa r.e, including a project pipeline of four wind farms and one solar farm totalling around 40MW – the company was renamed Fezero.

Prime Super manages the retirement savings of members from industries including agriculture, horticulture, health, education, aged care and recruitment, with a “strong connection” to regional Australia.