ASX Renewable Energy Stocks: Fujitsu to offset emissions with renewables from NSW's largest wind farm

Fujitsu Australia takes first step towards decarbonising operations
CSIRO injects $50 million in four critical programs including carbon locking and energy storage
LPE sets out key targets for FY2022/2023 focusing on renewable energy assets

Fujitsu Australia has signed its first purchase power agreement to offset around 30,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year with renewable energy sourced from CWP Renewables’ Sapphire Wind Farm in the New England region of northern NSW – the largest operational wind farm in NSW.

From June 2022, the renewable energy purchased annually through this agreement will equate to around 40 per cent of Fujitsu’s data centre load in New South Wales (NSW), equating to the yearly needs of around 9,000 NSW homes.

The agreement is the largest PPA undertaken in the Fujitsu Group, in line with achieving its emissions reduction targets.

Graeme Beardsell, CEO at Fujitsu Australia said as a large energy in Australia, the company wants to use its scale to support renewable energy generation.

“Data centres are energy-intensive to run and by increasing our sourcing of renewable energy our data centre customers will also benefit from a reduction in their own carbon footprints, specifically their scope 3 emissions,” he said.

“Looking forward, we will continue to explore opportunities in our region to invest in power purchases from renewable projects.”

CSIRO to tackle energy storage and carbon locking challenges

Australian national science agency, CSIRO, plans to invest $50 million over the next five years in four new programs to drive critical breakthroughs in energy storage, carbon locking, immune resilience and the bio-economy.

Four programs are included as part of CSIRO’s $200mn portfolio of Future Science Platforms (FSPs), pushing the boundaries of exiting research through collaboration with universities and industry.

These include:

TheRevolutionary Energy Storage Systems FSP, which will reimagine Australia’s electricity grid from one designed to support fossil fuels to instead incorporate more sources of renewable power.
The Permanent Carbon Locking FSP, which is set to harness biology, chemistry and engineering to drive innovation in carbon capture and carbon storage science.
The Immune ResilienceFSP, which will build on the accelerated understanding of human and animal immune systems gained from COVID-19 to develop technologies that prevent, protect, and respond to emerging health threats; and
The Advanced Engineering Biology FSP aims to deliver new tools to develop fast-tracked solutions for some of the most pressing challenges of this century – from food security to health and wellbeing and carbon-neutral industries.

Dr Andrew Lenton, Director of the Permanent Carbon Locking FSP, said research would focus on accelerated atmospheric carbon removal and permanent carbon storage, and integrating these in novel ways.

“If we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, breakthroughs and innovation in permanent carbon removal from the atmosphere is needed,” Dr Lenton said.

CSIRO’s Chief Scientist Professor Bronwyn Fox said the Future Science Platforms are a big part of the agency’s strategy to stay at the forefront of discovery.

“The foundational research that these four new Future Science Platforms will undertake will pave the way for innovations and catalyse new industries that will help us to better manage our health, food security, natural resources and environment in the decades to come.”

LPE provides improved revenue and performance guidance for FY2022

Queensland electricity provider, Locality Planning Energy Holdings (ASX:LPE) has affirmed the potential for renewable energy generation assets such as the BioHub and Solar Farm opportunities following an operational review, which set out to determine key targets for FY2022.

The company hopes to organically grow the retail business toward positive free cash flow in FY2023 by exceeding $70mn in revenues in FY2022 (+27% YOY), reaching at a minimum 48,000 retail customers (+16% YOY) and in excess of 55,000 in FY2023, and uplift customer demand for LPE’s green solar bank and battery solution.

LPE chairman Justin Pettett said if these metrics are achieved and customer acquisition growth is sustained, the board is optimistic hitting critical mass across the core retail business enabling free cashflow generation to material in FY2023.

“LPE’s move into renewable energy generation is expected to be a game changer in FY2023, given the high margins achievable by generating green energy behind the meter to power high usage data centres and other tenants that are vertically integrated at the site,” he said.

The company predominantly services the Queensland energy market, selling electricity, hot water, solar and battery systems to homes, business, and strata communities.