ESG and technology in infrastructure and energy are front-and-centre for this week’s Infra Dig podcast as the focus turns to Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners – winner of the tech trophy in last year’s inaugural IJGlobal ESG Awards.

Angus Leslie Melville – editorial director of IJGlobal, Infrastructure Journal – talks to Anne Foster, global head of ESG and senior director of investments at Quinbrook, about the deployment of technology across their platforms and how it improves the fund manager’s standing.

Without so much as a flicker of shame, IJGlobal bangs the drum for the second week running to clarion the ESG Awards 2022 (submissions portal closes 17 August) as Anne is given a platform to run through the reasons her firm won the award last year.

Anne is a well-known figure in ESG circles and last year won the IJGlobal ESG Outstanding Contribution Award having greatly impressed the independent panel of judges. Quinbrook did well at last year’s awards, also picking up the IJGlobal ESG Award, Technology.

IJGlobal’s independent panel of judges was flattering of Quinbrook’s innovations, lauding the “pioneer approach” the fund manager has taken towards “addressing artificial intelligence and blockchain” saying it has “placed technology at the heart of its investment strategy to enable the transition to clean energy”.

The broad consensus from among the judges was that Quinbrook “impresses with the breadth of its engagement in new technologies” while setting itself “the right goals to aim for”.

One judge summed it up nicely saying: “Technology-enabled solutions for grid synchronicity removing coal from the grid, AI-driven energy and grid control systems… these are innovative areas and enabling the shift to a low carbon energy system.”

In a far-ranging podcast – running time around 46 minutes – Anne takes the listener through how Quinbrook has deployed a range of technologies from blockchain through to AI in a bid to improve the fund manager’s ESG credentials and achieve efficiencies.

In a must-listen podcast for everyone building knowledge in the fast-evolving world of ESG – in particular in relation to technology deployment – in the infrastructure and energy space (everywhere really) Anne tackles numerous elements of portfolio management that Quinbrook has enacted.

One particularly interesting section involves discussion on how Quinbrook tracks and traces energy usage which helps it to achieve increased efficiencies, which was swiftly followed by revealing how tech solutions are being used to forecast energy usage.