NSW electricity transmission assets leased to Australian, Canadian, Middle Eastern investors for more than $10bn

A MULTI-BILLION dollar lease of ‘poles and wires’ to Canadian, Middle Eastern and Australian investors will boost public spending, Mike Baird claims.

TransGrid power lines in western Sydney. Image: Renee Nowytarger

AN AUSTRALIAN — LED consortium of Canadian and Middle Eastern investment funds has won the battle for NSW’s “poles and wires” electricity transmission business in a $10 billion deal which Premier Mike Baird has hailed as a “great result” for the state.

Mr Baird said the lease would go towards infrastructure promised at the election.

The consortium, led by Hastings fund management, is made of a Canadian pension fund, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait investment authorities and Spark Infrastructure, an ASX listed company.

State Grid of China, which was considered a favourite, failed in its bid.

The government says the consortium members have a proven track record in the electricity network industry.

The 99-year lease of TransGrid, announced today, will mean Premier Mike Baird will exceed his $13 billion lease target for the three networks in order to fund $20 billion in infrastructure.

“We’ve taken a giant step in spending taxpayers’ money more wisely on things that make a difference to their daily lives like better schools, hospitals, public transport and roads,” Mr Baird said.

“This is a great result for NSW taxpayers and shows the comprehensive plan we took to the election is the right one for the future of NSW.”

Following the transaction, the state government will retain significant influence over TransGrid as lessor, licensor, as safety and reliability regulator, and through the planning system.

TransGrid will also continue to be regulated by the Australian Energy Regulator, which determines network charges.

There were several contenders for TransGrid with a consortium of State Grid, owned by the Chinese Government, and Australian owned Macquarie Infrastructure seen as strong bidders.

The NSW Government is also planning long-term lease deals for power distributors AusGrid and Endeavour Energy.

— with Daily Telegraph and AAP