Credit: Edify Energy
As our world transitions to renewable energy sources, it brings significant disruption to existing energy markets, presenting an opportunity for investors to ride the early wind tails of this economic shift. With Australia’s abundant access to natural resources, we are well positioned to harness the power of our sun and our strong winds. Read on to explore the opportunity size of investing in wind and solar infrastructure projects, how they help our climate’s future and how you could get started.
Why invest in Wind & Solar?
According to the Global Wind Report 2022, the wind industry had its second-best year in 2021, with almost 94 GW of capacity added globally, trailing behind the 2020’s record growth by only 1.8%. Total global wind power capacity is now up to 837 GW, helping the world avoid over 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 annually – equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of South America.
As for solar, it’s going from strength to strength and has recorded 30% growth in the share of total electricity generated year on year from 2017 to 2020. In fact, in 2021, 29% of Australia’s total electricity generation was from renewable energy sources, and as seen from the graph below, solar has been steadily growing since 2009.
How Solar & Wind investments support our climate future?
Currently our energy system relies very heavily on non-renewable sources like fossil fuels. The process of turning fossil fuels into energy requires extracting them from deep within the earth and burning them. This process releases a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, which contributes to greenhouse gases, global warming, and biodiversity loss.
Whereas, one of the main benefits of using renewable energy sources is that they don't release carbon dioxide or pollute the air when they are used to produce electricity or heat. Some CO2 is emitted during the lifetime of the technologies - for example, during their manufacture or construction - but overall emissions are significantly lower than burning fossil fuels.
Wind is a particularly clean, green and renewable source of energy. It has the lowest carbon footprint of all renewable energy sources. Plus the turbines are space efficient allowing them to be placed on farmland with minimal disruption, allowing operators and farmers to get the maximum use out of their land.
As for solar energy, it is also a clean, renewable, and increasingly efficient form of energy, particularly in Australia where our sun is so powerful.
Investing in Solar and Wind with Bloom: A case study with The Octopus Renewable Energy Opportunities Fund
With $23 billion of funds under management, Octopus is one of the largest owners of renewable energy projects in Australia and Europe, owning over 350 assets on behalf of wholesale and institutional investors. Octopus Australia owns Australian assets in the Development, Construction and Operational stage, representing a huge opportunity to take advantage of the growing need for renewables to fill the supply gap caused by retiring coal.
Now thanks to Bloom, you can get a slice of this clean energy pie as we have made our first investment into the Octopus Renewable Energy Opportunities Fund (‘OREO’).
Why is this a big deal for Bloom investors?
The Octopus Renewable Energy Opportunities Fund (OREO) has a Target Return of 7.0% net IRR (post-annual management and performance fees, before tax - Source: Octopus)
A $5 billion wind, solar and storage development portfolio across the NEM
Run by an experienced team of 35+ on the ground in Australia.
Now you can get exposure to this Fund for as little as $100 (for individuals) - all you need to do is download the app and sign up to start investing in these clean energy assets!
Investing in Wind farms in Regional Queensland
Via its investment in the Octopus Renewable Energy Opportunities Fund (‘OREO’), Bloom is proud to be supporting one of the assets that is likely to be entering the portfolio in the near-future, the 180MW Dulacca wind farm.
Powering Australian homes with clean energy
This 180MW Dulacca wind farm, located North-west of Brisbane within the Western Downs Region, is supported by a QLD government PPA, consisting of 43 wind turbines. Once completed and connected to the Grid, the wind farm is anticipated to generate enough electricity to power approximately 124,000 homes!
Source: dulaccawindfarm.com.au
Creating new jobs
The project will generate both direct and supply chain jobs during the approximately 22-month construction period. At its peak, up to 150 workers are anticipated to be active on the construction site. Beyond construction, the project will additionally create an anticipated 5 to 10 full time roles during the operations and maintenance of the facility. Based at the project site, these residential roles are anticipated to exist for the operational life of the project (30 years).
Investing in Australian Solar Farms
Via its investment in the Octopus Renewable Energy Opportunities Fund (‘OREO’), Bloom is proud to be supporting the Darlington Point solar farm located in New South Wales (NSW).
Saving 154,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions
Now fully operational, the Darlington Point solar farm located in New South Wales (NSW) is one of Australia’s largest solar farms and is anticipated to generate approximately 685,000 MWh each year (equivalent to 420,000+ barrels of oil) and is expected to offset equivalent to 154,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions over its 35 year life.
You can invest in The Bloom Climate Impact Fund today to get access to The Octopus Renewable Energy Opportunities Fund.
Octopus is just the tip of the iceberg!
At Bloom, we have created a unique Climate Impact Investing Methodology. The Bloom fund invests in businesses like Octopus to create a positive climate impact and accelerate the world’s transition to a cleaner future while striving to generate financial returns for its investors. Please always remember investments carry risk and you may lose some or all the money invested. Each business that Bloom considers must meet an impact solution, like water conservation, from Project Drawdown or Climate Works, and the asset itself needs to be a sound investment financially. The info in this article is just a glimpse into our research and portfolio, for more information download the Bloom app and start your climate impact investing journey with us.
Source: octopusinvestments.com.au/our-projects/darlington-point-solar-farm
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Sources:
The information on this blog is prepared by Bloom Impact Investment Services Pty Ltd (ACN 651 965 098 AR 001294778), who is an authorised representative of Cache Investment Management Pty Ltd (ACN 624 306 430 AFSL 514 360) (Cache). All information is general information only and does not take into account your personal circumstances, financial situation or needs. The units in the Bloom Climate Impact Fund are issued by Melbourne Securities Corporation Limited (ACN 160 326 545 AFSL 428 289), as disclosed in the relevant PDS. You should also read the TMD which describes who the financial products mentioned herein, may be appropriate for. All information is general information only and does not consider your personal circumstances, financial situation or needs. Before making a financial decision, you should read the PDS and consider whether the product is right for you and whether you should obtain advice from a professional financial adviser. All investments carry a risk. You may lose some or all of your money invested.