BlackRock invests over $700 million in Australian battery storage
Wind turbines in Australia. Earlier this year, a report from the Clean Energy Council of Australia said renewables would account for 32.5% of the country’s electricity production by 2021.
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A fund under the management of BlackRock Real Assets was established to acquire Akaysha Energy, an Australian company specializing in the development of renewable energy and battery storage projects.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Black stones said it intends to commit in excess of A$1 billion (about $700 million) in capital “to assist in building” more than 1 gigawatt of battery storage assets.
Going forward, BlackRock said Akaysha plans to develop energy storage projects in a variety of Asia-Pacific markets, including Japan and Taiwan in the near future.
Efficient, large-scale storage systems become increasingly important as renewable energy capacity expands. This is because while energy sources like the sun and wind are renewable, they are not immutable.
The International Energy Agency has said that “the rapid scaling of energy storage is critical to meeting the need for flexibility in a decarbonized power system.” According to the IEA, investment in the battery storage division has grown by nearly 40% in 2020, reaching $5.5 billion.
Australian government figures show fossil fuels will account for 76% of total electricity production in 2020, with coal accounting for 54%, gas 20% and oil 2%. Renewable energy market share accounted for 24%.
In April, Australia’s Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources said renewables are responsible for an estimated 77,716 gigawatt hours of electricity in the calendar year for 2021. This represents 29 per cent. total electricity production.
In a speech last month, the country’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that “the challenge of climate change is also a future opportunity that we must seize to become a renewable energy superpower.” .”
In a statement on Tuesday, Charlie Reid, APAC head of climate infrastructure at BlackRock, said that as Australia’s renewable energy infrastructure continues to “mature”, investments will be needed in the battery storage property.
This is required, he said, “to ensure the resilience and reliability of the grid, especially with coal-fired power plants continuing to shut down earlier than expected.”
“For our customers, we see tremendous long-term growth potential in developing advanced battery storage assets across Australia and in other Asia-Pacific markets and look forward to wants to work with Akaysha to ensure an orderly transition to a cleaner and safer energy future,” added Reid.
As the world’s major economies roll out plans to boost their renewable energy capacity, interest in battery storage looks set to grow.
In July, Norway Equinor say it will acquires US-based battery storage developer East Point Energy after signing an agreement to receive 100% of the company’s shares.
Equinor, a major oil and gas producer, said Charlottesville-headquartered East Point Energy has a 4.1 gigawatt pipeline of “concentrated early to mid-stage battery storage projects.” on the East Coast of the United States.”
The company says battery storage will “play an important role in the energy transition as the world increases its share of intermittent renewable energy.”
“Battery storage is key to enabling further penetration of renewable energy, which can contribute to stabilizing electricity markets and improving supply security,” it added.