Rest has announced its commitment to invest $1 billion in renewable and clean energy infrastructure manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners.
According to the $75 billion super fund, the decision reaffirms its belief that green data centres and sustainable digitisation represent a valuable long-term opportunity for its members.
The investment will provide exposure to a range of assets, such as solar and battery projects and green data storage centres, including Quinbrook’s Supernode green data campus in Brisbane.
Rest chief investment officer Andrew Lill said sustainable digitisation enables the rapid connectivity of the global economy to continue in an energy efficient and environmentally friendly manner.
“In a world increasingly reliant on data, and through the global growth in cloud-based technologies and AI, data centres have become big business and demand for this critical infrastructure is expected to accelerate,” Mr Lill said.
“Repositories for the storage, management, and dissemination of data require significant investments and huge amounts of energy.
“Maximising their energy efficiency and minimising their environmental impact through our commitment to Quinbrook is just one way we believe we can contribute to strong long-term financial benefits for Rest members, while supporting our objective to achieve a net zero carbon footprint for the fund by 2050.”
Mr Lill added that the investment in Quinbrook aims to provide strong long-term financial returns through greater exposure to next-generation infrastructure in Australia.
He noted that climate change mitigation, the energy transition, and the road to net zero are creating investment opportunities for the more than 1 million Rest members, aged 30 or younger, who will retire after the year 2050.
“This investment is expected to help our members grow their super while contributing to a more sustainable future.
“Quinbrook is an established and experienced renewables specialist that is looking to help power the net zero transition through targeting large-scale sustainable investments,” Mr Lill continued.
“Combined with our existing Collgar Renewables and Octopus Investments, this commitment builds on Rest’s track record in supporting the development of renewable energy infrastructure across Australia.”
Quinbrook’s senior team of power industry professionals have collectively invested more than US$8.2 billion ($12.5 billion) in energy infrastructure assets since the early 1990s.The firm’s investment focuses include solar energy and storage, green data centres, distributed energy solutions, and renewables for energy-intensive industries.
