Andrea's work in the renewables and real estate sectors has involved advising on capital transactions in a broad cross section of asset classes, across multiple jurisdictions. She has experience across the diverse sectors of the real estate and renewables industries, including development, aged care, hospitality and gaming.

MinterEllison's recent renewable energy report painted a positive picture for the sector. What was your main takeaway from the findings?

Renewable energy in Australia is really having its moment. One of the standout findings from the Australian Renewable Energy Report was that investment appetite in Australia for renewable assets is at an all-time high, and you can really see that from an M&A perspective playing through in the types of renewable deals that we have seen in the market over the last 12 months.

Many of the M&A transactions over this year have been competitive sale processes with several active bidders and many different types of bidders in that mix. You've got everyone from specialist infrastructure funds to retailers to OEMs playing in the renewable space and bidding actively for high-quality assets, and the Australian Renewable Energy Report indicated investor confidence coming through in the market.

Are there any particular sectors attracting investors?

The two standout sectors in renewable energy in the past 12 months have been solar and battery. And I think that's not surprising. It reflects that solar assets are generally quicker to develop than other types of renewable energy assets like wind, where you have to secure a lot more land tenure to go through the development pathways. Batteries are a vital adjunct for intermittent sources of power.

Were you surprised that 75% of investors plan to increase their investment in Australian renewables? What makes Australia an attractive investment destination?

Australia has a lot to offer for an investor in the renewables sector. I think one of the strongest recent changes we have seen from an investment perspective is the positive policy settings, and the Federal government's announcement of these has helped to set up an attractive landscape for investment.

Most of our clients will have broad investment mandates and won't only be focused on investing in Australia. They'll have New Zealand, Asia Pacific and other parts of the world as part of their investment mandates, so we are in a competitive environment to attract offshore capital.
The positive government policy settings, like the scheduled shutdown of coal-generating assets, are playing a big part in the early interest in investment in Australia at the moment. We also have great natural resources here. We've got plenty of sun, plenty of land, and plenty of wind, and those are all attractive propositions for investment.

Are there deals that you're finding attractive propositions for buyers coming into Australia?

Yes, there's a lot of interest in deals, but it's a competitive landscape. The effect is that prices can be seen as high, and returns can be squeezed. And that is one of the challenges for investors. Another challenge is securing financing on the right terms for the big deals out there – there are numerous hurdles to getting the funding away.

Are you seeing any issues with the development pipeline that could lead to problems down the track?

There seems to be a bit of a backlog of development assets pending development approval. In the next 12 to 24 months, we may see a much higher level of investment in wind assets because there are a number of those assets that are sitting with the regulators (who are, of course, very busy at the moment like most people in the renewable energy sector). And once those assets are a little more progressed and they're a closer to build, or a financial close stage of development, we'll see a lot more of those on the market and available for investors.

What does Australia have to do in the future to continue to attract investment in renewables?

I think that we've done a great job in terms of attracting investment to date. The grid and investment in the grid are big things that we will need to grapple with over the next 12 to 24 months.

I think a big piece of that will be how well we can invest in upgrading and rolling out enhancements to our transmission network infrastructure and how quickly and efficiently we can collaborate with rural communities and landowners.

And I think our government has a role to play in making sure that those policy settings remain positive for investment, and we're doing all of the things that we can do to continue to have a strong investment appetite in renewable energy assets in Australia over the next little while.

Do we have people with the right skills to fulfil the demand for renewable energy?

Australia and many other countries are transitioning exceptionally quickly towards a very different energy market and a much greener market. I think the challenge for resources, skills, and new developments is huge. You can see people doing things quickly, and competition for people with the right skills is challenging.

In terms of reskilling and retraining, there will inevitably be a shift of talent that moves from traditional coal assets to renewable assets. But at the moment, there's no immediate pressure to do that. We're operating in a dual energy environment in the sense that many of the coal-fired generators are still operating and playing a very important role in keeping our energy system stable.

What can we expect to see in Australia in the next 12-24 months?

Renewable energy investment will remain very competitive over the next 12 to 24 months. And what we're going to see is investors looking for creative ways to take themselves out of that competitive race.

We'll see a couple of things: I think we'll see investors partnering a lot more with, for example, O&M suppliers or those in the supply chain. I also think we will see developers develop specific portfolios for specific investors, for example, investors who might want to offset their carbon credits.

We're going see much higher levels of activity in the market from the big retailers who, at the moment, have been relatively quiet in the Australian M&A market for renewable assets. And I say that because I think that one of the greatest natural advantages retailers have is their retail base, which can help de-risk the offtake aspects of a renewable transaction. I think retailers will be a lot more active over the next 12 to 24 months.