News

A new Australian project developer, Voyager Renewables, has been launched with the backing of multi-national fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

Voyager is exclusively a renewable energy project developer, and is aiming to assemble 6 GW of onshore wind, large-scale solar and battery energy storage projects across Australia by 2030.

The company has already established a portfolio of projects in New South Wales and Victoria with a total potential capacity of 3450 MW.

In NSW Voyager is planning development of the 450 MW Sunnyside Wind Farm, to be located south-east of Mildura in the South-West Renewable Energy Zone.

In Western NSW south of Cobar, Voyager’s Energy Oasis is an onshore wind project with co-located solar and BESS. The 2 GW project includes high voltage transmission to connect large-scale energy capacity to the grid.

Voyager’s third project will be situated in south-west Victoria, north of the Portland region. The 1 GW potential Western Tablelands Wind Farm includes a large-scale wind farm and BESS.

Voyager Renewables Chief Development Officer, Mark Branson, said, “Our projects in New South Wales and Victoria are in the early development stage and we are working with farmers and local communities at these sites, as well as in Queensland. We will have more to say on our projects as they progress but are committed to building lasting relationships in the regions and providing value to local communities.

“Voyager Renewables is originating and developing clean energy projects from the ground up and will have a long-term stake in building strong community relationships and delivering value to regional Australia.

“We believe Australia’s energy demand will continue to grow beyond the current shift to renewables and that quality generation and storage projects will always be needed to service the market”, Branson said.

Voyager is headed up by Branson, whose previous experience spans Australia, Asia Pacific and the Americas in senior roles with SunCable, CWP Renewables and ERM.

“Our team is headquartered in Newcastle at the heart of the energy transition where there is serious pedigree for providing the skills and depth of experience to service the energy sector.

“We are investing in the regions from our base in the Hunter and with local businesses at our project sites in regional communities.

“We have an astute and ambitious investor in Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and we are building a pipeline of opportunities to meet its high investment standards”, Branson said.

Voyager is backed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), which entered the Australian market in late 2017 via an investment in Star of the South offshore wind farm.

Since then CIP has built a pipeline of more than 40 GW in active development opportunities in Australia, including in offshore and onshore wind, large-scale solar, green hydrogen, pumped hydro and battery storage.

CIP is described as the world’s largest fund manager dedicated to greenfield clean energy investments with more than $50 billion in green energy investments under management.