Macquarie eyes greening of heavy industry with $332m Hydro Rein stake
Finance giant takes near half-stake in developer that already has 5TWh of offtake deals in bag
Global finance giant Macquarie hailed growing opportunities in decarbonising heavy industrial sectors as it completed a $332m deal to take a major stake in Hydro Rein, the renewables development arm of Norwegian aluminium group Hydro.
Macquarie Asset Management today (Monday) finalised the purchase of 49.9% share in Hydro Rein, which has 8.4GW under development across the Nordic markets and Brazil.
Hydro Rein focuses on striking big power deals with some of the heaviest energy users in global industrial sectors, with deals in place with its parent group totalling 5.3TWh annually.
The developer has also agreed offtake arrangements with the likes of Telenor, the Norwegian telecommunications group.
Analysts have long identified providing non-fossil energy options to massive consumers in areas such as steel, chemicals, mining and manufacturing as one of the top priorities if emissions reductions goals are to be met.
Macquarie said its finance firepower would help fuel Hydro Rein’s expansion as it goes forward as a joint venture, with the Australia-based group’s investment held by the Macquarie Green Energy and Climate Opportunities Fund.
Mark Dooley, Global Head of Green Investments at Macquarie Asset Management, said: “Decarbonising vital industrial materials like aluminium is a key challenge of the energy transition. Hydro Rein is helping to pioneer low carbon aluminium smelting and is playing a leading role in enabling industries like the automotive sector to reach its decarbonisation targets.”
Hydro and Macquarie have previously cooperated over major renewables projects, including a 456MW onshore wind farm in Brazil.
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