UniSuper puts $620m into Macquarie green energy spin-off

Macquarie has sold six renewable energy companies into a new open-ended fund to be backed by UniSuper and other pension funds.

UniSuper chief financial officer John Pearce.

Macquarie has sold six renewable energy companies into a new open-ended fund to be backed by UniSuper and other pension funds, representing 16 per cent of Macquarie Asset Management’s green energy assets.

The fund, dubbed the Macquarie Green Energy and Climate Opportunities Fund (MGECOF), will buy the six solar, wind, energy storage and carbon offsets companies for an undisclosed amount.

MGECOF’s seed investments will be initially funded with a “significant” commitment from industry super fund UniSuper, other UK pension funds and Macquarie’s own balance sheet, the companies said.

The portfolio of seed investments were developed by MAM’s in-house green investments team from 2018. They comprise companies and projects in the American continent, Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Macquarie declined to comment on the size of the fund but its first energy transition fund, the Macquarie Green Investment Group Energy Transition Solutions, raised $US1.7bn at its previous close last October.

UniSuper has committed up to $US400m ($620m) to the new MGECOF fund, the industry super fund said in a statement. Other investors include LGPS Central and Border to Coast Pensions, both of which manage pooled assets of local government pension schemes in the UK.

UniSuper chief investment officer John Pearce said his fund was a significant investor of MGECOF and would be investing alongside Macquarie’s balance sheet.

“This is an investment of scale and quality with a pipeline of opportunities helping to accelerate the transition to net zero,” he said.

“It will enable UniSuper to invest across technologies and geographies in projects that we believe will generate attractive long-term returns for our members.”

The seed asset sales into MGECOF represent about 17 gigawatts of green energy capacity in development, construction and operations.

That is a relatively small but material 16 per cent of the 106 gigawatts of green energy assets in operation, under construction or in development that Macquarie’s MAM last disclosed as of March 2023.

“Over several years, we have worked closely with specialist teams and partners across our platform to create, acquire and grow a portfolio of companies and projects diversified across geographies, technologies, power markets and development stages,” said Edward Northam, the head of core renewables, at MAM Green Investments.

“The portfolio seeks to accelerate the green transition through its extensive, high-quality development pipelines and operational projects that are well aligned to national targets and policies.”

The portfolio acquired by the new fund includes Macquarie’s Pan-Asian onshore wind, solar and energy storage development company Blueleaf Energy, Australian and New Zealand wind, solar and battery powerhouse Aula Energy, and the US-based Treaty Oak Clean Energy and Galehead Development, which develops large-scale solar, wind, and energy storage projects.

Forliance, a German company specialising in high-quality, nature-based carbon offsets, and Outer Dowsing, a 1.5GW offshore wind farm project in the UK, are also part of the portfolio.

Originally published as UniSuper puts $620m into Macquarie green energy spin-off