Australian Government-owned Green Bank has announced its first investment to transform the industrial property sector with cleaner, greener assets. $50 million has been committed to one of Australia’s largest industrial and logistics funds, Charter Hall Prime Industrial Fund.
The $5.5 billion CPIF is one of Australia’s largest industrial and logistics funds, with 75 assets across Australia, including warehouses, industrial estates and distribution centres.
CPIF has now received a $50 million equity investment from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which will help implement innovative sustainability solutions across the fund’s industrial and logistics assets.
Australia has about 35 million square metres of industrial roof space – a largely untapped resource for energy efficiency improvements, solar PV and batteries that offers significant potential to provide clean energy as well as grid services.
“Working with an industry leader like Charter Hall gives us the opportunity to use our capital to help transform the industrial property sector. We can drive sustainability measures across an extensive portfolio of assets, as well as positively influence the sustainability profile of a diverse range of large tenants,” Ian Learmonth, CEFC CEO said.
“With long-term industrial tenants looking for more sustainable property to help meet their ESG targets, the industrial property sector provides important opportunities to further decarbonise the economy.”
Ian said the investment will also lead to the construction of new assets that make use of the latest in sustainable design and materials, potentially driving uptake of materials identified in the Federal Government’s Technology Investment Roadmap such as green steel, aluminium and cement, and delivering long term benefits to Australia’s emissions profile.
The CPIF will consider several sustainability initiatives across its portfolio of assets and consider several initiatives that go beyond the scope of the emissions target by looking to influence tenant and supply-chain emissions.
“Charter Hall is committed to continuous improvement in ESG performance across our portfolio. The CEFC investment is an endorsement of our plans to improve the operational performance of our buildings and deliver to our tenant customers a consistent high performing product,” Charter Hall Chief Investment Officer Sean McMahon said.