Swiss Fund Manager For Australian PV+Storage Project

• SUSI Partners has committed up to AUD 50 million to invest in solar and storage solutions offering in Australia
• Starling Energy Group will deploy rooftop solar systems with storage for residential segment through its brand Plico Energy using the proceeds raised from SUSI Partners
• The architecture of the program is designed in a way to make it possible later on to merge individual systems into a VPP and stabilize the local power grid

SUSI Partners, a fund manager from Switzerland, is investing up to AUD 50 million ($34 million) in an Australian project that combines solar and storage solutions in the residential segment. Its partner in the Australian market, Starling Energy Group is marketing the offering under the name Plico Energy. It says the project won Energy Innovation of the Year distinction for 2019 WA Energy Awards by the Australian Institute of Energy.

Plico Energy will install rooftop solar modules for interested homes, which will come with a battery storage system along with maintenance and administration services.

SUSI explains the offering allows residential properties to produce and consume the solar power they generate through the rooftop PV and storage systems covering about 90% of the total energy demand of the household. It will make it possible to merge individual systems into a virtual power plant (VPP) and stabilize the local power grid.

Part of the proceeds can be passed on to the local communities and after the stipulated period ends, the ownership of the platform should be fully transferred to the communities. "By combining a community-oriented green energy solution with the optionality of a VPP configuration, we are putting people at the heart of the energy transition while delivering contractually secured returns," said SUSI Partners Director Matteo Zanni.

This is SUSI's second investment in Australia. In November 2018, SUSI Partners entered Australia for the first time through the €30 million ($33.2 million) acquisition of a 34 MW solar power plant with a storage component in Middlemount, Queensland. Back then it said through its SUSI Energy Storage Fund (SESF) it was pursuing several additional projects under exclusive terms.

SUSI's investment in the Plico Energy offering is through the SESF.

Rooftop solar in Australia is the most advanced in the world with a potential scope of expanding to 179 GW (see Australian Rooftop Solar Capacity Reaches 9.48 GW). No wonder it has companies making innovative offerings as SUSI Partners and Starling Energy. In May 2019, Sonnen floated a scheme to offer Victorian households fixed monthly electricity bills to opt for rooftop solar+storage+grid energy with SonnenFlat Energy Plan (see Sonnen Offers Solar+Storage+Grid Deal In Victoria).