LOGOS strikes $4.2b solar panel deal with Atlassian founders
Industrial property landlord Logos is a step closer to making its entire portfolio carbon-neutral after striking a $4.2 billion deal with Atlassian’s founders to install solar panels at its logistics precinct in Sydney.
Under the plan, LOGOS will work with Solar Bay, the renewables fund bankrolled by software billionaire Scott Farquhar’s Skip Capital and Mike Cannon-Brook’s Grok Ventures, to install panels on the roof at the Moorebank Logistics Park (MLP). The facility is being touted as Australia’s largest intermodal freight facility.
The target is to save 67.2 kilotonne of CO2 emissions annually through 100 per cent renewable energy, generating enough clean energy to power the equivalent of 40,000 homes in NSW and supplying the full energy requirement of MLP during daylight hours.
LOGOS chief executive Darren Searle said the deal reflects the demand by building owners and tenants for sustainable, carbon-neutral properties and confirmed the scheme will be rolled out across its Australian portfolio in coming years.
“In terms of industrial and storage applications, investors and tenants want greener and cleaner buildings, and we are focused on demonstrating that we can deliver,” Searle said.
“The world has changed and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is a priority,” he added.
LOGOS and Solar Bay will develop the precinct-wide microgrid, which will operate at a combination of 11kV and 33kV to provide the required electrical capacity to tenants.
Solar Bay is a Renewable Energy Infrastructure Fund (REIF) that installs and operates generation, storage and microgrids across Australia and New Zealand. It is backed by Cannon-Brooks and Farquhar who founded the tech giant Atlassian but have become more well-known as shareholder activists and eco-warriors.
LOGOS is a logistics specialist with $26.5 billion of assets under management across 10 countries in Asia Pacific and backed by the ESR Group. It was founded by industrial property veterans John Marsh and Trent Iliffe and its properties owned and under development, include the Qantas buildings at Mascot and the logistic estates at Truganina and Broadmeadows in Melbourne.
The investment director at Solar Bay, James Doyle said MLP is a prime example of the convergence between property and energy infrastructure “that we’re seeing across Australia and New Zealand”.
He added that future stages of the microgrid will utilise additional solar power for electric truck fast charging, thermal storage, hydrogen generation and supply, and related low emission infrastructure.
The deal comes amid continued discussion around the outlook for the industrial property sector, which is the growth story of the global pandemic as online shopping flourished during lockdowns and the goods bought needed storage and distribution centres.
While there is some concern of a slowdown in the sector, most of the country’s main sheds are full, with demand far outstripping supply.
“Demand for the sector has not been seen at these levels, it is extraordinary,” Searle said.
“Most of the main areas of Sydney and Melbourne have net-zero vacancy, so we have a market whereby tenants cannot find a home.”
