EDP Renewables expands presence into Australia
- The acquisition of a local company enables EDPR to develop wind, solar and storage projects in the country.
- Australia is one of the most promising markets in Asia-Pacific, a region that EDPR entered in 2022.
Australia, 29 January 2024 – EDP Renewables (EDPR), a global leader in renewable energy, has expanded its Asia Pacific presence into Australia to tap into the country’s substantial growth prospects in renewable energy.
To fully enact its strategy and commitment to the market, the company has acquired the local renewables company ITP Development (ITPD). The ITPD team thus joins the EDP Group’s approximately 13,000 employees worldwide.
EDPR views Australia as a market with strong fundamentals and ample depth in renewables. Leveraging the company’s well-established presence in the Asia Pacific region, EDPR is poised to excel by capitalising on ITPD’s local expertise as well as deploying its global scale, technical proficiency, and energy management know-how to Australia.
EDPR will focus on greenfield development of sizeable wind and solar projects coupled with innovative storage solutions in Australia. This move is a strategic step that brings over 1.5 GW of capacity, with a pipeline of wind and solar projects at various stages of development with options to co-locate battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the east of Australia, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland. The portfolio also includes a 480MWp solar photovoltaic system and 200 MW BESS project, which is at an advanced stage of development in Queensland and is expected to enter into operation by 2026, contributing to Queensland’s net zero ambition.
With an ambitious decarbonization plan, Australia is one of the markets with higher potential in the region. With 38% of the total electricity generation from renewables, the country intends to achieve 82% renewable power by 2030 and fully replace coal with renewable sources by 2040 by adding 26 GW of new capacity. Australia is also one of the most advanced countries in storage regulation and implementation.
EDPR is increasingly focused on markets with favourable decarbonisation opportunities like Australia, Singapore, and Japan, amongst few others. With clear routes-to-market, regulatory stability, and robust climate targets, these core markets enable value maximization in renewables and are positioned as strategic growth areas for EDPR in the coming years.
Present in APAC since 2022, EDP Renewables has already installed 1.3 GWp (905 MWac) in solar capacity across the region in utility-scale projects, as well as distributed generation. The company is also investing in innovative solutions that can accelerate the region’s transition to cleaner sources, such as floating solar installations and solar and storage solutions that can power islands without access to the grid and are dependent on fossil fuels.
APAC is one of EDP’s group four regional hubs, which together account for more than 26 GW of installed capacity worldwide, of which more than 22 GW is in solar, wind, and hydro projects. The company aims to reach 50GW of renewable energy by 2030 to become a 100% renewable player.
About EDP Renewables (EDPR)
EDP Renewables (Euronext: EDPR) is a global leader in renewable energy development which has built a significant position in the energy landscape, establishing a presence in four global hubs – Europe, North America, South America, and Asia Pacific. With headquarters in Madrid and leading regional offices in Porto, Houston, São Paulo and Singapore, EDPR has a sound development portfolio of top-level assets and market-leading operating capacity in renewable energies. Its business mainly encompasses onshore wind, distributed and large-scale solar, offshore wind (through a 50/50 joint venture – Ocean Winds) and complementary technologies to renewables, such as hybridization, storage and green hydrogen.
EDPR’s employee-centered policies have received recognition such Top Employer 2024 in Europe (Spain, Italy, France, Romania, Greece, Portugal and Poland), Colombia, Chile, Brazil and Singapore, and are also included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index.
EDPR is a division of EDP (Euronext: EDP), a leader in the energy transition with a focus on decarbonization. Besides its strong presence in renewables (with EDPR and hydro operations), EDP has an integrated utility presence in Portugal, Spain and Brazil including electricity networks, client solutions and energy management.
EDP – EDPR’s main shareholder – has been listed on the Dow Jones Index for 16 consecutive years, recently being named the most sustainable electricity company on the Index.
