CEFC invests in smart meters in new push to give consumers more control over their energy use
3 July 2018
The CEFC has completed its first smart meter technology financing, further extending the benefits of distributed clean energy to Australian households and businesses.
The CEFC has committed $35 million of debt finance towards the expansion of intelliHUB – a joint venture between Pacific Equity Partners and global smart meter leader Landis+Gyr – which is acquiring Acumen, Origin Energy’s $267 million smart meter business unit.
The new intelliHUB joint venture will be a leading Australian provider of smart meter solutions, servicing Australian energy retailers and consumers. The Acumen business included the existing management and servicing of an already deployed 170,000 meters. The combined business has future, long-term contracts with Origin Energy and other retailers, that will see it rollout and manage more than one million smart meters across Australia and New Zealand.
CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said: “Smart meters give energy consumers better control over their energy consumption, which is essential for lowering carbon emissions. They also give consumers the ability to better understand where and how they can benefit from behind-the-meter solar and energy storage solutions.
“Electricity is one of the largest sources of emissions for Australia. It’s essential that we address this by acting right across the energy market. This includes investing in more renewable energy as well as implementing a range of proven measures to lower day-to-day energy consumption. We see smart metering as an essential part of an integrated clean energy future and we’re very excited to be part of this market evolution.”
The CEFC investment is part of a debt finance package to support both the Acumen acquisition and intelliHUB’s growth plans for the business.
Acumen has already installed 170,000 smart meters for Origin customers, and this is set to grow as Power of Choice reforms are rolled out. Introduced on 1 December 2017, Power of Choice requires all new and replacement electricity meters to use smart technology, to give consumers more control over their energy use.
intelliHUB CEO Adrian Clark said: “The CEFC is one of a number of high profile investors to sign up to back intelliHUB’s planned metering deployments. I am delighted the CEFC is supporting intelliHUB through our financing structure and I am confident that together we can deliver technology and innovation in smart metering and drive connectivity and competition.”
The CEFC investment is the latest in the grid and storage technology space following equity investments in GreenSync, Redback, Relectrify and Thinxtra. The CEFC has also provided finance to Lincoln Gap Wind Farm in SA, DeGrussa Mine in WA and Kennedy Energy Park in Qld, which all have a battery storage component.
CEFC Grid Solutions and Storage Lead Simon Brooker added: “There are some 9 million metering points in the National Electricity Market. By accelerating their conversion to smarter technologies, customers will benefit from more meaningful information relating to their energy consumption. These customers will be better informed when considering investment in solar and storage solutions by matching system specifications to actual consumption patterns.
“Through improved data provision, electricity network operators will be able to harness greater insights to enable a smoother operation of the energy grid, facilitating improved integration of renewables and energy storage.”
ABOUT intelliHUB
intelliHUB is an Australian based metering technology company that has attained full Metering Provider, Meter Data Provider and Metering Coordinator accreditation from the Australian Energy Market Operator. The business has been developed as subsidiary of a global organisation and the leader in Smart Metering, Landis+Gyr, which has provided metering solutions in Australia for 95 years. intelliHUB provides metering services in the national electricity market by engaging with energy retailers to provide all aspects of their energy control and management solutions to the retailer’s end customers. intelliHUB’s goal is to provide a broad range of smart technology services that empower Australian households to manage their energy usage and reduce energy costs. intelliHUB’s senior management team possess extensive experience within the energy industry and end-to-end metering solutions. intelliHUB leverages the global products, services, R&D and technology platform of Landis+Gyr.
Media release, 2018