Australia Billionaire Eyes Renewables Boom in Northern Territory

(Bloomberg) -- Australian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes’ private investment arm is pursuing opportunities to develop renewable energy in the country’s Northern Territory as it looks to tap the region’s abundant sunshine and proximity to key Asian markets.

The territory has the makings to become a world leader in clean energy generation and export, Grok Ventures investment manager Jeremy Kwong-Law said on Thursday. He highlighted that hydrogen and solar power transmission via subsea cable are the two clearest pathways to tap the huge Asian market.

“I’m hoping that within 5 years we’ll be shipping electrons at serious scale. That’s definitely do-able,” Kwong-Law said by phone from Darwin, the capital city of Northern Territory.

Climate lobby group Beyond Zero Emissions has said the region may unlock about A$2 billion ($1.4 billion) a year by focusing on renewable energy instead of shale gas. That comes after the local government last year ended a ban on shale gas exploration, spurring plans by Origin Energy Ltd. and Santos Ltd. to drill wells in the highly prospective Beetaloo and McArthur Basins this year.

The speed at which the cost of renewables and energy storage was falling makes the economics of long-term gas projects questionable, Kwong-Law said. “Investing in gas is kind of like investing in CDs in the music industry.”

Kwong-Law added that Grok is looking at some potential deals to develop clean energy in the region and he hopes to be in a position to make announcements soon. He wouldn’t reveal how much the company plans to invest, except that Atlassian’s co-founder Cannon-Brookes was “completely committed.”

To contact the reporter on this story: James Thornhill in Sydney at jthornhill3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net, Jasmine Ng, Ben Sharples

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