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Major organisations sign up to Melbourne’s Renewable Energy Project 

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised on the completion of the power purchase agreement for the second Melbourne Renewable Energy Project.

user iconTony Zhang 15 July 2020 Big Law
Melbourne
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Firms: Norton Rose Fulbright advised a group of prominent Melbourne universities and businesses including RMIT University and Mondelez International.

Deal: Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised a group of prominent Melbourne universities and businesses on the second Melbourne Renewable Energy Project (MREP2). 

The deal will power the purchasing group’s operations using wind energy produced in regional Victoria.

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Value: Undisclosed. 

Area: Energy. 

Key players: The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by energy partner and Australian head of power, Kelly Davies, and supported by competition partner Claire Forster, senior associate Amanda Scribante-Smyth, associate Kit Man Cheng and graduate Lucy Bessant.

Deal significance: The purchasing group includes seven large energy users: RMIT University, Deakin University, Cbus Property, ISPT, Fulton Hogan, Citywide Asphalt and Mondelez International.

The new group includes 14 shopping centres, nine office buildings, seven educational campuses, and four manufacturing facilities, providing enough renewable power for the equivalent of more than 22,000 households a year. 

MREP2 will reduce greenhouse gas pollution by 123,000 tonnes a year, the equivalent of taking more than 28,000 cars off the road every year.

This is the second purchasing agreement coordinated by the Melbourne City Council, following on from the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project (MREP1), which saw the council lead a consortium to buy up 88 gigawatt hours of renewable energy and construct a wind farm near Ararat. 

City of Melbourne deputy lord mayor Arron Wood said the two projects represented a 5 per cent reduction in the city’s emissions. 

RMIT University’s executive director of property services and procurement Chris Hewison added the university was excited to lead the MREP2 buying group, as the project clearly aligned with RMIT’s desire to embed sustainability into all the university’s activities.

The supplier Tango Energy will provide 110 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity per year to the purchasing group over 10 years. The agreement starts in July and most of the wind power will be produced at the Yaloak South Wind Farm near Ballan, with the remaining energy coming from other wind farm projects in regional Victoria.

Ms Davies said that cities across the Australian market are proactively seeking change in a sustainable decarbonised future for their residents and businesses. 

“The City of Melbourne, in conjunction with RMIT University as lead member of the purchasing group, [has] secured yet another landmark deal for businesses in Victoria that demonstrates the commitment of the city to achieve its goal of powering Melbourne with 100 per cent renewables,” Ms Davies said.

“Congratulations to all of the businesses involved, to the [market-leading] energy market advisory team from Energetics and to my team – a great team effort that has driven yet another transformational deal to execution in the Australian market.”

Voting is now open for The Lawyers Weekly Award, to be presented to one individual for making substantial, consequential achievements in advancing the Australian legal profession since 2000.

Finalists for this prestigious award have been confirmed as those listed below. To vote for your preferred winner, click here. 

Julian Burnside AO QC (barrister)

Bernard Collaery (barrister, former Attorney-General of the ACT)

Kate Eastman SC (barrister and co-founder, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights)

The Honourable Robert French AC (former chief justice, High Court of Australia)

Sue Kench (global chief executive, King & Wood Mallesons)

The Honourable Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC (chief justice, High Court of Australia)

The Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG (former justice, High Court of Australia)

Jane Needham SC (barrister and former president, NSW Bar Association)

Geoffrey Robertson AO QC (barrister)

Professor Gillian Triggs (assistant secretary-general, United Nations and former president, Australian Human Rights Commission)

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