Hong Kong PE firm to aid Maoneng build 1.9-GW Aussie battery, solar portfolio

• Australian renewables designer Maoneng Group has teamed up with Hong Kong-based private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners to fast-track a 1.9-GW portfolio of mostly battery projects in Australia, it was revealed on Wednesday.

Gaw Capital Partners is making a bulk financial investment in Maoneng's Australian company with its growth equity arm, Gaw Growth Equity Fund I. This notes an access right into the renewable energy market for the property personal equity firm.

The collaboration, Gaw Maoneng Renewables, will advance six energy storage space projects in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, consisting of Maoneng's lead project-- the 240-MWp/480-MWh Mornington battery in Victoria, which is anticipated to start building in the first quarter of 2023. The portfolio also includes the Gould Creek battery in South Australia, which has actually likewise safeguarded development application authorization, three battery projects in New South Wales with sent applications and also the prepared Merriwa Power Center consisting of 550 MW of solar and 400 MW/1,600 MWh of battery storage in New South Wales.

The building of these projects is approximated to require more than AUD 2 billion (USD 1.3 bn/EUR 1.3 bn) of equity and financial obligation financing, which will certainly be secured with the help of Gaw Capital Partners.

The joint venture will also study new renewable energy opportunities.

"The shift to renewable energy in Australia is accelerating under this federal government's policy, as well as batteries are a key item to the puzzle in facilitating higher grid penetration by solar and also wind. The collaboration enables us to concentrate on the work as well as to get it done faster," claimed Gaw Maoneng Renewables president as well as managing director Morris Zhou.

"We have actually been searching for time at a suitable entrance right into the clean energy investment field, and utility-scale batteries underpin the dispatchable power needs for the grid to change from its mix from coal and gas to renewable energy generation," commented Herbin Koh, supervisor, head of venture as well as growth equity of Gaw Capital.