On Monday, Australia’s Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), one of the country’s largest institutional investors, with AUD 85 billion (about $65 billion) in funds under management, announced that its $16 billion global infrastructure investment arm, QIC Infrastructure, has deployed more than $2 billion in capital over the past 18 months in sustainable energy infrastructure across North America.
According to QIC, these investments, which span energy transition, decarbonization and distributed infrastructure fields, have “multiplied” [by an unspecified factor] its U.S. infrastructure portfolio. This includes its lead follow-on investment (together with Australian pension fund AustralianSuper) in Generate, which develops sustainable infrastructure for the energy, waste, water and transportation markets.
It also includes the completion of its acquisition (together with U.S. insurer Ullico) of CenTrio, the largest pure-play district energy platform in the U.S., which owns and operates intelligent thermal energy systems in Chicago, New Orleans, Houston, Syracuse, Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland.
QIC owns other U.S. concession investments, notably in campus parking systems at Northeastern University through MasParc and Mobility and at Ohio State University through CampusParc, as well as the Long Beach Courthouse PPP. QIC Global Infrastructure now has investments in 30 states across more than 330 cities in the U.S. employing a total of 280 people.
“The investments we have made in the U.S. over the past 18 months significantly expand our North American infrastructure portfolio and footprint, now spanning 30 states,” QIC Head of Global Infrastructure Ross Israel said.
Never been stronger
“They are consistent with our thematic strategy across energy transition, decarbonization, and distributed infrastructure – themes that have never been more relevant. We will continue leveraging our energy sector expertise to accelerate deployment of sustainable decentralized infrastructure solutions across North America while delivering meaningful benefits for customers and communities and building long-term value for our investors,” he added.
Arash Shojaie, QIC’s Energy and Utilities Sector Leader for North America, noted that in addition to its U.S.-focused capital deployments in Generate and CenTrio, since 2019 QIC has also acquired Pacific Energy, Australia’s largest off-grid power generation company, and facilitated the multibillion-dollar acquisition of Tilt Renewables by another of its portfolio companies, Powering Australia Renewables (PoWAR). QIC’s global infrastructure footprint now spans 21 assets in six countries across the transport, energy and utilities, and social/PPP sectors.
“Our ability to secure and grow leading decarbonization and decentralization investments has never been stronger, even as our pursuit of opportunities in digital infrastructure, waste, and traditional utilities gains momentum,” Shojaie said.
