Evie Networks’ debt deal is a sign that Australia’s fast charging stations are gaining investment momentum.
Australia’s burgeoning EV framework looks ready to gain new ground after fund manager Infradebt agreed to pour $50 million into the national charging network.
The private debt fund, which is backed by Future Super and co-invests with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, will throw its weight behind Evie Networks to expand Australia’s public charging infrastructure.
Evie, which reportedly powers more than 600,000 kilometres of electric travel in Australia every day and is on track to commission its 1,000th charge point this month, is the nation’s third-largest charging network.
It manages roughly 330 charging stations in Australia, including eight WA locations between Karrinyup and Dawesville.
The five-year facility is a unique investment in that it positions Australia’s public charging network as its own asset class.
Before now, venture capital predominantly drove the network’s growth, but Westpac senior economist Pat Bustamante said renewables are gearing up for a new investment wave.
“According to Treasury modelling, investment in renewables required to hit the Government’s target could be as large as the mining investment boom of the 2000s, when mining investment increased from around 2 per cent to around 9 per cent of nominal GDP,” he said in a Monday briefing note.
“We estimate there are around 190 renewable projects (including generation, storage and transmission) pipeline with known costs worth a total of $240 billion in new investment.
“As these projects proceed to the approval and finally to the construction phase, investment activity should increase significantly.”
Westpac said WA was one of the best-placed states ahead of the investment boom, given it accounts for roughly 27 per cent ($68 billion) of the national project pipeline.
That insight comes soon after the state government rounded out a 12-month vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trial in Exmouth, which validated two-way charging as a tool to bring more power stability to the grid.
Regional utility Horizon Power carried out the trial to determine whether EVs could be used as mobile energy storage systems, finding they can also feed power back into the network as needed to deliver power bill savings.
Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said the pilot could help make two-way charging “a real possibility” in Western Australia.
“Electric vehicle batteries are powerful. As well as helping to stabilise the grid they have the capacity to power homes and reduce energy bills,” she wrote on Monday.
“The success of this trial sets a strong foundation for EVs to be integrated into our power systems.”
As the possibilities evolve, so too is the policy landscape.
Standards Australia approved the first rules to green light two-way charging in late 2024, while ARENA’s national roadmap talks about EVs as “batteries on wheels” that could meet a big portion of Australia’s storage needs by the early 2030s.
And local manufacturing appears to be on the way, with RedEarth partnering Germany’s ambibox to assemble Australian-made V2X DC chargers from 2025.
