A global platform to develop and own battery energy storage assets has been launched by Macquarie Asset Management’s Green Investment Group (GIG).
GIG announced the launch of Eku Energy yesterday, with the new company aiming to develop, build and manage assets across a diversified base of markets, revenue sources and contracting structures. A source close to the company said each project in the company’s pipeline is expected to be financed with a combination of equity and debt.
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GIG, which was founded in 2012 as the Green Investment Bank by the government of the UK and then bought in 2017 by Australian financial services group Macquarie, renamed and relaunched as a specialist green infrastructure and development investor.
As GIG, it has already been active in battery storage markets in the UK and Australia. Its existing activities will be wrapped up into Eku Energy’s business, meaning the developer begins life with GIG’s two projects under construction in its portfolio.
These are a 40MW/40MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Maldon, Essex, in England, which GIG acquired as part of a seven-project 187MWh transaction in June 2021, and a 150MW/150MWh BESS at a former fossil fuel site in Victoria, Australia.
The Maldon project achieved financial close in December 2021, the same month that construction began on the project in Victoria.
In addition to that 190MWh, Eku Energy has adopted GIG’s more than 3GWh pipeline of development opportunities, which are in the UK, Australia, Japan, and Taiwan. The source told Energy-Storage.news the pipeline’s value is estimated around US$2 billion. Once relevant regulatory approvals are in place the company will open offices in London, Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo, and Taipei.
In June this year, GIG signed a joint development agreement (JDA) with UK-based developer Bluestone Energy to work on up to 2GW of UK battery storage projects. A year prior to that, the group launched a partnership with another UK developer, Enso Energy, to work on subsidy-free solar and storage projects.
“As the world races towards net zero, the challenges around the energy transition are shifting. We’ve proven we can produce renewable energy at low cost, now we need to deliver the smart, flexible energy system that will support the electrification of the global economy,” Eku Energy interim CEO Chris Morrison said.
“Battery storage is critical to maximising the role for renewables in our energy mix by enabling the delivery of dispatchable clean energy.”