Spanish energy company Iberdrola is continuing its expansion in Australia’s solar sector with the acquisition of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) provider Autonomous Energy.
Focused on the commercial and industrial (C&I) and small-scale utility segments, Autonomous Energy has to date delivered more than 100 projects – including rooftop solar, ground-mount PV and battery energy storage – for a range of customers across Australia.
Autonomous Energy CEO Matthew Linney said his company’s knowledge in behind-the-meter technologies combined with Iberdrola Australia’s growing portfolio of renewable assets will enable them to offer a “set of innovative and integrated green energy products that lower customer energy costs”.
According to Iberdrola, the acquisition will position the company’s Australia unit “as a one-stop shop” for customers seeking both behind-the-meter and front-of-the-meter green energy solutions.
The deal comes a year after Iberdrola’s purchase of Australian renewables firm Infigen Energy (now Iberdrola Australia), which recently committed to building a 245MWdc solar PV plant in New South Wales that is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
“By adding Autonomous Energy’s market-leading capabilities in behind-the-meter technologies, we will be able to offer our customers a wider range of products that help them meet their financial and sustainability goals,” said Ross Rolfe, managing director of Iberdrola Australia.
A new strategy unveiled by Iberdrola earlier this year will see the company spend €150 billion (US$183 billion) to nearly triple its renewable energy capacity by 2030, as it bids to reach 93GW by the end of the decade.
Iberdrola Australia has a pipeline of more than 2GW of renewable energy projects at various stages of development in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.
Other deals in Australia’s solar sector in recent months have seen Canadian pension investor OMERS Infrastructure buy a stake in a renewable energy platform from developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), while Swiss fund manager last week SUSI Partners acquired a 50% interest in Starling Energy Group, an Australian installer of solar PV and energy storage systems for the residential sector.
