Business

Canadian Pension Fund Invests In FRV

OMERS Infrastructure Acquires 49% Stake in FRV Australia

Anu Bhambhani
  • Canada's OMERS Infrastructure has acquired 49% stake in FRV Australia Group
  • The acquisition makes OMERS a partner in FRV Australia's development pipeline of 2.7 GW DC solar PV and 1.3 GWh battery energy storage systems
  • FRV Australia sees this investment from the pension fund as bringing it resources to execute on its growth plans in Australia

FRV Australia Group, the Australian presence of Spanish renewable energy company Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), is now partly owned by Canadian pension fund OMERS Infrastructure that has taken up a a large stake in the company.

With this acquisition, OMERS is now a 49% stakeholder in FRV Australia's 637 MW DC operational and under construction utility scale PV projects contracted with 'high-quality counterparties'. FRV Australia also has a development pipeline of 2.7 GW DC solar PV assets along with 1.3 GWh of battery energy storage systems.

With this undisclosed investment coming in from Canada, FRV said it will be able to execute its 'ambitious' growth plans in Australia, as OMERS' presence bring a high value to its portfolio projects and pipeline.

"This partnership will accelerate FRV's consolidation as one of the renewable energy market leaders in the country and also the expansion of our footprint into new technologies," said FRV Australia's Managing Director Carlo Frigerio. FRV is part of Abdul Latif Jameel Energy.

This investment from OMERS follows its 19.4% acquisition of India's Azure Power in August 2021 which it purchased from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) (see OMERS Infrastructure Acquires 19.4% Stake In Azure Power).

OMERS is also the owner of Leeward Renewable Energy in the US that operates more than 2 GW of installed renewable energy capacity and purchased 10 GW AC project development platform of First Solar in January 2021 (see First Solar Selling US Project Development Business).