Intellihub Group, a Sydney-based company that manages a portfolio of more than 3.3 million smart meters across Australia, has secured a $3.1 billion debt funding package including $100 million from the federal government's National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC).
The debt investment marks the first in the renewables and low emissions technology priority area for the NRFC, with the funds going towards the rollout of smart meters and the upgrading of Intellihub’s Evergen energy management software to enable integration with a wider range of smart home devices.
The funds will also help the company develop and acquire new behind-the-meter (BTM) devices that can be integrated into its Evergen platform.
"We’re committed to supporting Australia’s energy transition, by helping more consumers benefit from smart meter, solar, battery, EV charging and pool efficiency technology," says Intellihub CEO Wes Ballantine.
"More than three million households across Australia and New Zealand already maximise their energy savings by utilising our smart devices together with Evergen software, with that number expected to double by 2030.
"This investment from the NRFC ensures Intellihub is strongly positioned to drive this expansion and accelerate this critical infrastructure deployment."
The company began in 2018 as a joint venture between Sydney-based Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) and Swiss Group Landis+Gyr, with the latter selling its stake to Canada's Brookfield in 2022 at a time when Intellihub was installing 1,000 smart meters a day across Australia and New Zealand.
It has not been publicly disclosed how much Brookfield paid for the stake, but Infrastructure Investor reported it was estimated to have paid $1 billion at a $2 billion valuation.
The NRFC highlights the vital role that smart meters play in enabling Australia to maximise the decarbonisation impact of its world-leading uptake of rooftop solar and home batteries, while also delivering grid stability. The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has mandated their universal rollout by 2030 as a critical part of the net zero transition.
"Intellihub is the NRFC’s first investment in the Renewables and Low Emissions Technology priority area and the proprietary VPP (virtual power plant) technology behind its globally scalable Evergen platform was developed in partnership with the CSIRO," says NRFC CEO David Gall.
"The transition to a net zero economy is an urgent and important national project and survey after survey has shown that the majority of Australians want to see concrete action to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
"One in three Australian homes has rooftop solar and the NRFC’s investment in Intellihub will help individual Australians to save money on their energy bills and make the most of their solar panels while contributing to the country’s energy transition."
Intellihub’s technology uses smart meters to enable energy retailers and network operators to better track and manage the energy usage of BTM devices such as EV chargers, home batteries, and pool pumps.
Its proprietary Evergen software platform aggregates consumer energy resources from BTM devices into VPPs that can help to stabilise the grid, absorb excess daytime solar energy, and minimise usage when the energy grid is under stress.
This in turn helps individual consumers to save money on their energy bills by enabling them to better understand and manage their energy use. Data from the AEMC has found that rolling out smart meters to all Australian households will provide net benefits of up to $507 million for national electricity markets, including NSW, QLD, the ACT and SA.
The NRFC’s investment will help support temporary local and regional meter installation jobs, as well permanent roles within Intellihub's operations, as part of the rollout.
The capital is also expected to aid Australia's economic diversification by creating additional highly skilled jobs in software, analytics, and energy services, in logistics and warehousing, and with telecom and IT partners to provide connectivity and data services.
"Intellihub supports a more sustainable future for Australia which is in line with the NRFC’s mandate and purpose. Making the transition to a net zero economy is a long-term endeavour, well suited to patient capital like the National Reconstruction Fund," says NRFC's chief investment officer Mary Manning.
The NRFC's contribution adds to some $3 billion in certified green loans announced by Intellihub in September, which was self-arranged by Brookfield and PEP with strong support from the group's banking syndicate.
It was the largest green loan certification provided by the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) in 2025 to date, with CIBC, Clifford Capital, MUFG, NAB, Societe Generale and Westpac acting as lead banks, and ANZ serving as green loan coordinator.
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