8 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS – JAPAN E-MAGAZINE AUGUST 2023 trips to Australia to make on-site inspections and conduct due diligence easier. “New energy-related MOUs and joint feasibility studies that were signed in 2019-2021 are now progressing to the proof-of-concept” stage and “implementation phases as the projects aim for commercialisation by 2030.” UNIQUE COMPOSITION Australia’s unique resource composition is a booster of these moves. In addition to producing a significant amount of fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, Australia has many deposits that are suitable for carbon capture and storage (CCS) while being suitable for solar power generation thanks to sunshine throughout the year and wind power generation due to a lot of flatlands and stable wind. In short, Australia is currently and will continue to be an energy superpower that can produce massive quantities of green ammonia and hydrogen through renewable energy production. It also produces the minerals necessary for large-capacity batteries. Hans Menski, a partner at Clifford Chance, says that Japan still needs LNG, and Australia is its leading supplier. “However, Australia has the potential to become a major green hydrogen and ammonia supplier, and in many ways, it’s become a focal point for energy investment not only for immediate transition but also longer term. There is much pressure, particularly on fossil fuel power generation. We expect that energy supply from Australia to Japan will move to new energy, particularly hydrogen and ammonia,” he projects. Herbert Smith Freehills partners Ian Williams and Damien Roberts hold the same opinion. “Japan is looking at all energy sources for its future energy security – renewables, CCS/CCUS, blue hydrogen (hydrogen produced from fossil fuels but the by-produced CO2 are stored in unused deposits), green hydrogen, ammonia, methanol,” they say. “All of these developments mean that Australia is well positioned to continue as a trusted and reliable energy supplier to Japan.” Due to these reasons, Williams and Roberts suggest that Japanese investors are interested in LNG, solar and wind power, rare minerals for electric vehicles and household batteries that use green hydrogen, ammonia and methanol, CCS/CCUS, and new ways to finance such projects. For the past 10 years, Australia has been third in the world in the project finance market. With three Japanese megabanks at the core, Japan’s financial institutions have significantly increased finance for renewable energy projects for both the finance organisation phase and syndication. NOT ONLY RESOURCES But natural resources are not the only enticements for investors, with the country offering investment opportunities. Australia is becoming known as a technology country and a centre for innovation, says Williams and Roberts. They say the success of software companies such as Atlassian, WiseTech, Acconex, and unicorn companies like Afterpay, Linktree, Canva, Airwallex, Realestate. com.au, Seek, Carsales, and MYOB is a factor behind the growing reliability of the Australian technology market. This acted as a catalyst for Alibaba, Slack, Square, GoPro, and other global technology companies to enter the Australian market recently. There are additional areas of interest, such as railroad infrastructure and real estate. Overall, there have been some major M&A deals of late, including Tokyo Gas’ $2.15 billion sale of its interest in four LNG projects MidOcean Energy; TAL Dai-ichi Life Australia’s $600 million acquisition of Westpac Life Insurance Services from Westpac, and Mitsui and Nomura’s acquisition of 67 percent of agricultural asset management company New Forests. HSF’s report projects “increasing sector diversity with investments in consumer products, retail, real estate and services,” adding that “Japanese trading houses, in particular, have continued to divest from carbon-intensive assets which they no longer consider strategic and reinvest in tertiary industries. Sydney and Melbourne are increasingly seen as luxury markets in the same mould as Singapore or Hong Kong where there is demand for high-value products and services.” ここ数ヵ月、オーストラリアが日 本からの投資先として注目を集めてい る。再エネを含むエネルギー、テクノロ ジー、不動産などが日本のマネーを惹 きつけている、と弁護士は話す。 日本とオーストラリアは古くから関 係が深く、オーストラリアは日本にとっ て、アメリカに次く第2の投資国である。 これに加えて、両国のつながりは、ハー バードスミスフリーヒルズが「一歩先に 進んだ」と呼ぶように、この1年から1年 半ほどでさらなる強化を見せている。 ハーバードスミスフリーヒルズが3 月に出したレポートによると、2022年の オーストラリアにおける日本企業の活 動は、コロナによる移動制限の緩和を 受けて大きく活発化した。国際的な渡航 は2022年10月に再開され、現地視察や 直接面談が再びできるようになり、デュ ー・ディリジェンスが可能になったこと で、投資活動活性化の転機となったとい う。 日本からオーストラリアへの伝統的 な投資案件は、石炭などの化石燃料の プロジェクトだったが、これがグリーン なエネルギーに移行しつつあることが、 要因の1つだ。 「新エネルギー分野でのパートナ ーシップに関して2019年頃から締結さ れた基本合意書（MOU）および共同フィ ージビリティ・スタディが概念実証およ びパイロットプラント段階に進展してい る」と同レポートは指摘。「2030年まで に商業化を実現することを目的に進展 してきている」と、同レポートは今後のプ ロジェクト拡大に期待を寄せる。この動 きが加速すれば、投資額は増え、弁護士 の仕事も増えるだろう。 エネルギー資源構成 こうした動きは、オーストラリアの特異 な資源構成による。オーストラリアは、石 炭や天然ガスなどの化石燃料を大量に 産するだけでなく、CCSに適した場所を 多く有し、1年を通して日照に恵まれて いるため太陽光発電に適しており、平地 と風も多いことから風力発電にも適して いる。つまり、再生可能エネルギーによ る発電でグリーンなアンモニアや水素を 大量に作れるという、現在と未来のエネ ルギー大国なのだ。これに加えて、大容 量電池に欠かせない鉱物も生産する。 クリフォードチャンスのハンス・メン スキ弁護士は、日本はまだLNGを必要 としており、オーストラリアはその主要 な供給国だと話す。「しかし、同時に、グ リーンなアンモニアや水素の主要な生
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