BlackRock to acquire Oz battery developer

• Financier to commit EUR691m to support buildout of over 1GW of BESS projects in Akaysha Energy's pipe

BlackRock Real Assets has actually agreed to acquire Australian renewables and storage space developer Akaysha Energy.

As part of the purchase, BlackRock intends to commit over A$ 1bn (EUR691m) of capital to support the buildout of over 1GW of battery storage assets throughout Akaysha's nine projects in the National Electricity Market (NEM) in Australia.

It is the very first battery storage investment made by BlackRock's Climate Infrastructure business (part of BlackRock Real Assets) in the Asia-Pacific region.

The financial investment will sustain the grid at an essential time in Australia's energy transition as well as is anticipated to reduce over 15 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent exhausts over the lifetime of the projects, BlackRock specified.

At complete capacity, Akaysha's projects will certainly aid "accelerate the rollout of a more 4000MW of supply of clean, affordable renewable energy throughout Australia".

Established in 2021, Akaysha's longer-term plans consist of developing future energy storage space projects in various other Asia-Pacific markets, with a near-term focus on Japan and also Taiwan.

Akaysha also has strategies to include surrounding renewable energy possibilities (including establishing eco-friendly hydrogen assets) to its portfolio across several markets.

Charlie Reid, APAC Co-Head of Climate Infrastructure, BlackRock, claimed, "As renewable resource infrastructure continues to develop in Australia, investment is needed in battery storage assets to make certain the durability and also reliability of the grid, specifically with the continued earlier-than-expected retired life of coal-fired power stations.

" For our clients, we see tremendous long-term development possibility in the growth of sophisticated battery storage assets across Australia and in various other Asia-Pacific markets and eagerly anticipate dealing with Akaysha to make sure an orderly transition to a cleaner as well as safe energy future."

Nick Carter, Managing Director of Akaysha, included: "The Asia Pacific region goes to the dawn of its energy transition from carbon discharging fossil fuels to recurring renewable energies and also our team believe a successful change to a much more lasting energy future hinges on the use of large-scale battery storage.

" By using BlackRock's international capabilities and track record in climate infrastructure, we're thrilled to meet our ambitions in accelerating the installment of utility-scale energy storage space modern technologies that will certainly mitigate the variability of renewable generation as well as deliver grid reliability as well as resilience to power system networks across Asia-Pacific."