Japanese power company J-Power has completed its takeover of Australian renewable energy and energy storage developer Genex Power in a deal worth AUS$351 million (US$229 million).
Revealed yesterday (31 July), J-Power secured 1,278,187,135 shares at a consideration price of AUS$0.275. J Power initially held a 10% stake in the company, with the two organisations having reached an agreement in May 2021.
The two companies had been jointly developing a 2GW solar-plus-storage project in Queensland dubbed Bulli Creek. The agreement signed last year (June 2023) granted J-POWER a 50% interest in the multi-staged solar power generation and battery project at Bulli Creek and provided Genex with a AUS$35 million corporate loan facility.
The two companies had also been jointly developing the 200MW Kidston Stage-3 Wind Project in Queensland, with operations expected to commence in 2025.
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With the completion of this acquisition, Genex will apply for delisting from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) effective from the close of trading on ASX today (1 August). The acquisition was advised by Australian law firm MinterEllison.
Geread Dooley, partner at MinterEllison highlighted that Japanese investment has been “critical to Australia’s growth” and that further investment will be “critical for Australia in achieving its energy transition ambitions”.
“This is another excellent example of MinterEllison supporting its Japanese clients with their most important and complex deals in Australia,” Dooley added.
Genex’s diverse renewable energy portfolio
Genex has a diverse portfolio that spans wind, solar, battery energy storage, and pumped hydro energy storage. This includes the 50MW Kidston solar project, 250MW Kidston pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) project, 258MW Kidston wind project, 50MW Jemalong solar project, 50MW/100MWh Bouldercombe battery project, and the aforementioned 2GW Bulli Creek Clean Energy Park.
The 250MW Kidston PHES project is significant to the Australian market, given that it is the country’s first new pumped hydro plant in nearly 40 years. More commonly known as Kidston 2 Hydro, the project in northern Queensland is 8 hours in duration and thus can provide 2,000MWh of capacity. Construction began in May 2021 and is scheduled to be completed later this year.
Equally, the 2GW Bulli Creek Clean Energy Park is the joint largest of Genex’s ongoing developments and incorporates energy storage and solar PV. Stage one of the project, which is expected to reach a final investment decision in the second half of 2024, will see a large-scale solar development with a capacity of up to 775MW constructed. In the second phase of the project, a 400MW/1600MWh BESS will be constructed.
