The Australian Ethical Infrastructure Debt Fund (the Fund) returned 7.3% net of fees for the financial year, compared to the benchmark return of 4.2%, resulting in an outperformance of +3.1%. Performance was driven predominantly by income from underlying loans and securities, while the Fund’s RBA Cash Rate Target benchmark remained steady for the first half of the year, before falling by 50bps towards the end the year to 3.85%.  

The Fund aims to support Australian projects that generate positive, measurable social and environmental outcomes alongside a financial return. Assets within the portfolio generated 1.9 million megawatt hours of clean energy and helped avoid 1.1 million tons of carbon emissions. This is the equivalent to powering more than 350,000 households over the period for the 12 months to March.¹ 

Average spot electricity prices across the National Electricity Market (NEM) were 30% higher in FY2025, compared to the previous financial year. This was particularly notable in the first half of the year with extreme weather events and unexpected outages causing grid instability and supply tightness. Prices were more subdued in the back-half of the year thanks in part to record renewable energy generation. Overall, renewables accounted for a record 40% of supply to the NEM for the 12-month period during a warm but not extreme summer. Across the portfolio, all loans performed with no material credit issues. Investors may have seen news reports that new solar farms could be forced to switch off at least one-third of the power they generate by 2027 following a report released by Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) after the financial year end. It should be noted this is a well-known issue within the energy generation industry and is part of the ongoing energy transition challenge, as policy makers seek to manage the issue of energy reliability, cost, and social license. This scenario is already factored in when analysing investment opportunities, and is taken into account when loans are structured within the portfolio to provide protection. This includes conservative debt sizing, amortising repayment structures, seniority and term - all loans in the portfolio today are senior and the weighted average portfolio loan life is approximately 3.4 years).    

We are continuing to evaluate a healthy pipeline of lending opportunities in line with our target mandate and the market continues to have a need for debt financing capital alongside equity commitments to support Australia’s renewable energy transition.

Infrastructure Debt Fund Performance^*

As at 30 June 2025

New investments

• Fulham Solar Hybrid Project. The project consists of a hybrid 107MW solar farm coupled with a 78MW two-hour battery energy storage system located in Fulham, Victoria, and is being developed by Octopus Australia, a specialist renewable energy developer and fund manager. It will be one of the first large DC-coupled hybrid battery/solar projects to join the National Electricity Market. The project has a unique revenue structure as it benefits from a Victorian Government 10-year VRET2 Support Agreement, which is effectively a fixed price-variable volume power purchase agreement. This will allow the project to sell a portion of solar generation (60% of the solar farm’s capacity) at a fixed price to give the project revenue certainty. The Fund’s senior debt facility will be a bridge facility, funding a portion of the construction costs alongside the equity contribution from funds managed by Octopus. 
• GGP Energy Pty Ltd (GGP) is a renewable energy developer based in South Australia specialising in utility-scale hybrid solar and battery projects, rooftop and microgrids. Their portfolio includes three similarly sized hybrid solar and battery projects all located in South Australia at Elwomple, Mannum and South Hummocks. The Elwomple and Mannum projects have been operating since mid-2023 and mid 2024 respectively, and the South Hummocks project is currently in pre-construction phase. Combined, the portfolio has 15MWdc of solar capacity and 15MWh of battery capacity. The loan will be drawn in early 2025. 
• Green Squares Energy (GSE) Trust is an open-ended investment trust founded in Sydney in 2019. The fund’s assets consist of a portfolio of behind-the-meter solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) which provide renewable energy solutions to commercial and industrial users across Australia. The Trust also owns two solar farms, the 3.6 MWac Chillamurra Solar Farm in Queensland and the 5.0 MWac Cosgrove Solar Farm in Victoria. The output from both solar farms is fully contracted to reputable counterparties. This loan will also be drawn in early 2025. 
• Green Tech Limited Renewables (GTL) is a vertically integrated solar and battery provider. They offer customers home solar and batteries under cost-effective equipment supply, installation (via its installer arm ShineHUB) and financing arrangements in return for a flat monthly fee for 10 years. 
• Australian National University (ANU) 2029 inflation-linked bond. ANU, established in 1946, is a prestigious public research institution located in Canberra. It consistently ranks among the top universities globally, reflecting its commitment to academic excellence and research impact. The university receives substantial government funding and holds a AA+ credit rating. From an investment perspective, the bond offers exposure to a high-quality, inflation-linked security at a compelling yield, while providing diversification into the education sector. 

Project updates

• The portfolio continues to perform within expectations, with no credit downgrades or breaches of covenants to report. All projects within the portfolio are in the operating phase, except for the recently closed Fulham Solar Hybrid project and a sub-5 MW hybrid solar farm in the GGP Solar Hybrid portfolio. 
• Throughout the year, several loans were repaid, including: Neoen Capital Battery, Boco Rock Wind Farm, Energy Trade, Leeton and Fivebough Solar Farms. In the case of the Neoen Capital Battery, it resulted in an asset-level return of over 12%. 
• As more renewables enter the grid and negatively impact daytime electricity pricing, the Yarranlea Solar Farm and the SAF portfolio of solar farms have started retrofitting battery storage systems to store excess energy generated during the day and release at night. We suspect this will be a trend throughout the wider industry, and as such, expect exposure to merchant solar-only projects (without batteries) to diminish in the portfolio going forward. 

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GGP Energy is a renewable energy developer based in South Australia specialising in utility-scale hybrid solar and battery projects, rooftop and microgrids the Fund invested in during the year.

Despite significant global equity market volatility, the Fund’s infrastructure-focus means there has been no material change to underlying cashflows of the projects in the portfolio.

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Investments in the portfolio

The Fund consists of a portfolio of loans including:

• Bright Energy Investment Portfolio. A portfolio of three renewable projects in the Western Australian (Greenough River Solar Farm 40MW, Warradarge Wind Farm 180MW, and Albany Grasmere Wind Farm 35.4MW).
  
  
• Yarranlea Solar Farm. A 134 MW solar farm in Yarrenlea, Queensland (100km west of Brisbane). 
  
  
• Sentient Solar Asset Fund Portfolio. A portfolio of three solar farms throughout Australia (Swan Hill Solar Farm 19.3 MW, Chinchilla Solar Farm 19.9MW and Brigalow Solar Farm 34.6MW). 
  
  
• RELA. Portfolio of renewable concurrent leases in NSW and Queensland. 
  
  
• Dulacca Wind Farm. A 181MWac wind farm in Drillham, Queensland (300km west of Brisbane). 
  
  
• Ark Energy NT Solar Portfolio. A portfolio of five solar farms in the Northern Territory (Utene Solar Farm 4.1 MW, Yulara Solar Farm 1.8MW, TKLN Solar Farm - Lake Nash 272KWac, TKLN Solar Farm – Ti Tree 323KWac, TKLN Solar Farm – Kalkarindji 408KWac).
   
• Royal Women's Hospital. Australia’s first and largest specialist public hospital dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of women and newborns, located in Parkville, Victoria. 
  
  
• Bouldercombe Battery. A 50MW/100MWh stand-alone battery energy storage system in Rockhampton, Queensland. 
  
  
• Darwin Convention Centre. The Northern Territory’s largest conference and event facility, catering for up to 1,200 delegates. 
  
  
• New South Wales Schools 2. A portfolio of ten schools across New South Wales. The schools include seven primary schools, two high schools and one special needs school. 
  
  
• GTL Renewables. A portfolio of over 2,000 solar and battery power purchase agreement systems located across the east coast of Australia.  Under the arrangements, solar and battery equipment is provided to households for a fixed monthly fee over 10 years, with the option for customers to make their home batteries available for grid load balancing and stabilisation services. 
  
  
• GGP Solar Hybrid Portfolio. A portfolio of three hybrid solar and battery projects (two operating, one in pre-construction) with a combined solar capacity of 15MW and 15MWh of battery capacity.
  
  
• Green Square Energy Trust Portfolio. A portfolio of behind-the-meter solar PPAs with commercial and industrial users across Australia, as well as two solar farms, 3.6 MWac Chillamurra Solar Farm in Queensland and 5.0 MWac Cosgrove Solar Farm in Victoria.
  
  
• Fulham Solar Hybrid. A hybrid 107MW solar farm coupled with a 78MW two-hour battery energy storage system located in Fulham, Victoria.
  
  
• Australian National University. A AA+ rated inflation-linked bond issued by the Australian National University maturing in 2029. 

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Portfolio holding weights