Brookfield signs MoU with Reliance Industries to revolutionise Australia’s renewable energy manufacturing sector

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India]: Brookfield Asset Management, a global alternative asset manager, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Reliance Industries.

The MoU aims to explore opportunities for manufacturing renewable energy and decarbonisation equipment in Australia, fostering the nation’s energy transition and fostering sustainable development.

Australia’s energy transition has been gaining momentum in recent years as the nation strives to reduce its carbon footprint and achieve its emissions reduction targets.

The MoU between Brookfield and Reliance Industries is set to play a pivotal role in accelerating and de-risking this transition by enabling the local production of clean energy equipment, including photovoltaic (PV) modules, long-duration battery storage and wind energy components.

Under the terms of the MoU, Brookfield and Reliance Industries will collaborate on direct capital investment and the development of skills, knowledge and expertise in the renewable energy sector within Australia.

By leveraging Reliance’s vast experience in solar panel technology and long-duration battery storage, both companies aim to establish advanced manufacturing operations in Australia.

These operations will focus on the production and assembly of equipment essential for the construction of renewable energy projects, catering to all market players, including Origin Energy Markets.

The collaboration is a step for Brookfield, which is committed to bringing global manufacturing technology and expertise to Australia.

Earlier in March, Brookfield signed a binding agreement with EIG to acquire Origin Energy, and along with its institutional partners, GIC and Temasek, has proposed investing between 20 billion USD and 30 billion USD over the next ten years to expedite the country’s energy transition.

The MoU’s primary objective is to ensure a consistent and sufficient supply of clean energy equipment required to develop up to 14 GW of new, large-scale generation and storage capacity in Australia.

Establishing onshore sovereign manufacturing capability for the energy transition could create around 18,000 direct and indirect jobs, with a particular focus on regions heavily impacted by the transition, such as the Hunter Valley in New South Wales and the La Trobe Valley in Victoria, Australia.

Luke Edwards, Brookfield Renewable Head of Australia, emphasised the significance of the energy transition for the country and its local manufacturing industry.

He said, “Australia has a proud history of manufacturing and an abundance of raw materials, but the industry is not currently cost-competitive.

The energy transition creates an opportunity to bring advanced manufacturing processes created offshore to Australia, which would secure the supply of critical equipment for the transition to help drive down Australia’s emissions faster and contribute significantly to job creation.”

Anant Ambani, director, Reliance New Energy Limited, reaffirmed the company’s dedication to a global clean energy ecosystem and its enthusiasm for investment opportunities in India and beyond.

“We are confident that Reliance and Brookfield will explore avenues in green energy in Australia, accelerating the nation’s transition to a Net Zero future and providing a fillip to the global green energy movement,” Ambani said.

Brookfield’s expertise in committing long-term capital to enable the energy transition makes it uniquely suited to support these manufacturing initiatives.

Its track record in large-scale investments, such as the 30 billion USD Intel Chip plant in Nevada, demonstrates its innovative approach to reshoring essential and strategic manufacturing processes and supply chains.

Brookfield Asset Management is a leading global alternative asset manager with approximately 825 billion USD of assets under management across renewable energy, infrastructure, real estate, private equity, credit, and other sectors.

The company focuses on investing client capital for the long term, with a strong emphasis on real assets and essential service businesses that form the backbone of the global economy.

Reliance Industries Limited is India’s largest private sector company with a consolidated revenue of INR 976,524 crore (118.8 billion USD) and a net profit of INR 74,088 crore (9.0 billion USD) for the year ended March 31, 2023.

Its diverse activities span hydrocarbon exploration and production, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals, advanced materials and composites, renewables (solar and hydrogen), retail, and digital services.

Reliance is the largest private sector firm from India to appear on Fortune’s Global 500 list of “World’s Largest Companies” for 2022, currently ranked 104th.

The company is ranked 45th in Forbes Global 2000’s list of “World’s Largest Public Companies” for 2023, placing first among Indian corporations.
Reliance has been named one of the world’s 20 best companies to work for, ranking first among Indian corporations.

Forbes’ list of the World’s Best Employers for 2022. It is listed as one of LinkedIn’s “Top Companies.”