Australian superannuation fund Rest has pledged a AUD 1 billion investment alongside Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, a renewable and clean energy infrastructure manager. The strategic collaboration aims to boost energy efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of data centres, with a focus on various assets including solar and battery storage projects and environmentally friendly data storage centres, such as Quinbrook's Supernode green data campus in Brisbane.
Rest's Chief Investment Officer, Andrew Lill, stated that the investment in Quinbrook is designed to provide robust long-term financial returns by increasing exposure to next-generation infrastructure in Australia and beyond.
Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners specializes in investments in solar-plus-storage projects, green data centres, distributed energy solutions, and industrial decarbonization, among other targets. The company's leadership team boasts a collective investment of over USD 8.2 billion in energy infrastructure assets since the early 1990s, representing a capacity of more than 19.5 GW of power supply.
In recent developments, Quinbrook signed a global framework agreement to secure over 10 GWh of energy storage solutions for its infrastructure projects. Additionally, the company revealed plans for a multi-billion-dollar polysilicon factory in Queensland in late October, aiming to produce wafers for use in solar panels and batteries. This strategic investment aligns with the broader industry trend toward sustainable and eco-friendly practices in data centre operations.
