Industry: Commercial

24 December, 2024

Australia’s current 3 gigawatts (GW) of energy storage capacity will grow by up at least a third (1 GW) following the creation of a new battery and solar investment platform by ZEN Energy and HDRE, a $1.3bn Taiwan-listed renewable energy company.

Starting with Solar River 256MW BESS and 210 MW solar farm north of Adelaide, the new battery energy storage system (BESS) platform, ZEBRE, includes scope to expand quickly and deliver an additional GW of energy storage, as well as 400 megawatts (MW) of solar generation across projects in four states.

The Solar River BESS and solar hybrid project was successful in the first funding round of the expanded Capacity Investment Scheme in September. As part of the creation of ZEBRE, ZEN has also entered into a tolling agreement for Solar River to ensure the project moves quickly to financial close and construction.

ZEBRE is 70 per cent owned by HDRE, with ZEN retaining 30 per cent.

The ZEBRE name is derived from ZEN, BESS and HDRE. The ZEN/HDRE collaboration will focus on developing storage assets here in Australia, as well as in Taiwan and potentially other countries such as Japan.

The ZEBRE partnership follows ZEN and HDRE signing a $43m equity transaction in early November this year.

Current forecasts by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) show Australia will need at least 22GW of storage by 2030 – a more than 700 per cent increase in capacity in the next six years. AEMO’s latest 2024 Integrated System Plan identified that storage capacity will need to increase from 3 GW today to 49 GW by 2050.

Quotes attributable to Anthony Garnaut, CEO of ZEN Energy:

“Long duration battery storage, as well as the significant benefits of deep storage that pumped hydro provides, is the critical ingredient to ensuring a reliable, firmed supply of power as Australia’s transitions away from fossil fuels.

“Securing Australia’s place at the head of the rapid world-wide shift to clean energy and realising the economic opportunities of becoming a renewable superpower depend on having global partnerships.

“ZEN is excited and thankful that, together with HDRE, we are building our portfolio of renewable energy investments and contributing to our collective safety and prosperity as well.”

Media enquiries: Paul Sheridan, 0410 516 656, paul.sheridan@zenenergy.com.au.

8 November 2024.

ZEN Energy and Taiwan listed renewable energy developer, HD Renewable Energy Co (HDRE) have formed a strategic partnership to focus on energy storage and green hydrogen projects in Australia, Taiwan and other countries. 

HDRE will subscribe 9.7% of newly issued ordinary shares by ZEN for A$43m, while ZEN will provide long-term tolling agreements. This values ZEN at $443m on a 100%, post-money basis. 

The ZEN/HDRE partnership will focus on developing storage assets in Australia, in Taiwan and potentially other countries such as Japan. In May, ZEN entered into a partnership with DGA Energy Solutions to develop green hydrogen initiatives to support Mitsubishi Corporation’s decarbonisation goals. 

The signing of the partnership follows a co-operation deed with HDRE in June this year to collaborate on energy storage developments and green hydrogen projects. 

HDRE is a Taiwan- listed renewable energy company (current market cap of A$1.3bn) with business across Solar and BESS development, green energy retailing and distributed energy (EV charging, behind the meter assets).  

ZEN’s initial co-operation deed sign in June involved developing up to 500MW of offtake commitments to bolster its energy portfolio and facilitate new project site acquisitions.  

Quotes attributable to Anthony Garnaut, ZEN CEO: 

“We know that partnerships with like-minded organisations like HDRE are key to a successful and just renewable transition for all. 

“Our strategy is to focus on storage asset development and operation to hedge against intermittency of renewable generation, such as the major wind drought that occurred in April/May this year. 

“It has been a difficult year, as many involved in the renewable transition have experienced. This significant partnership with HDRE, new long term Power Purchasing Agreements with Acciona and Enel, and long term customer agreements with blue chip customers such as SBS have counter-balanced a challenging financial landscape in 2024.” 

Media enquiries: Paul Sheridan, 0410 516 656, paul.sheridan@zenenergy.com.au 

18 October 2024.

‘Female power’ is shaping South Australia’s clean energy transition and the previously male-dominated energy industry as well.

This significant industry change was on full display during a panel discussion led by Professor Ross Garnaut at the Women in Energy forum in Adelaide, hosted by ElectraNet and ZEN Energy, yesterday.

Three of South Australia’s most important energy organisations – ElectraNet, the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME) and the Office of Hydrogen Power SA – have women in their senior leadership positions. These key leaders spoke to a room full of people from across the energy sector about the guiding influence women have had on male-dominated politics and energy policy over the past decade.

“Women have been increasingly front and centre of South Australia’s clean energy transition, shaping the solutions that the state needed following the 2016 statewide blackout,” ElectraNet Chair Dr Julie Beeby said.

In 2017, while South Australia was accelerating its take up of rooftop solar, SACOME CEO Rebecca Knol alerted the government to the vital importance of storage infrastructure to ‘firm’ or stabilise the electricity grid.

“We developed what turned out to be a significant and influential policy document that emphasised the growing importance of storage in the energy debate and called for all political stakeholders to support storage options that would improve the reliability of intermittent renewable energy generation and supply in South Australia,” Ms Knol said.

“Well before the 2017 ‘tweet that changed South Australia’, ZEN had been advocating for the need for a big battery, a grid-scale battery,” the company’s Chief Financial Officer Phillipa Chen said.

“ZEN could see that if you were really going to solve South Australia’s energy problem, you needed a firming capability at grid-scale, while dealing with everything else in parallel.

“We worked with the South Australian government to develop early concepts and then things accelerated beyond imagining, when Elon Musk took up Mike Cannon-Brooke’s challenge to deliver a 100MW battery within 100 days.”

Dr Beeby joined ElectraNet in 2023 and said the $2.3 billion Project Energy-Connect link from South Australia to NSW is pivotal to delivering on the government’s accelerated 2027 renewable energy target.

“We have made it a priority at ElectraNet to have an achievable plan in place to support South Australia’s transition to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2027. We are proud to have completed construction on the South Australian component of Project EnergyConnect, which will be a transformational project for not just our state but the whole of the National Electricity Market,” she said.

Nicola McFarlane, Chief Operating Officer at the Office of Hydrogen Power SA, said the next stage of the state’s energy transition will see opportunities for regional South Australians.

“By investing in hydrogen and renewables, we’re opening doors for job creation and industry development in regional communities,” Ms McFarlane said.

Construction of a world-leading hydrogen plant at Whyalla is set to start before the end of the year.

“Harnessing our state’s abundant renewable energy at the hydrogen facility will not only help us reach our 100 per cent renewables target and help stabilise the grid, it will also pave the way for the production of green steel and green iron, establishing South Australia as a hub for sustainable manufacturing,” Ms McFarlane said.

The Women in Energy Forum was jointly hosted by ElectraNet and ZEN Energy at Immersive Light and Art (ILA), a social venture initiative, in Adelaide.

Media enquiries: Paul Sheridan, ZEN Energy, 0410 516 656, paul.sheridan@zenenergy.com.au

04 September 2024.

Success in the first funding round of the federal government’s expanded Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) enables ZEN Energy to move quickly towards construction of its Solar River battery and solar farm, 110km north of Adelaide.

Federal Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen today announced ZEN’s 650MWh Solar River battery and 230MW solar farm project was chosen from among an over-subscribed first funding round.

The project will be able to dispatch up to 256MW of renewable power on demand and will add significant stability to the electricity grid as South Australia builds toward becoming 100% renewable by 2027 and a clean energy superpower through its investments in green manufacturing.

Engagement with the local community, Ngadjuri and People of the River Murray Traditional Owners and other important stakeholders has refined aspects of the project and will guide how a significant community benefits scheme is distributed.

This includes prioritising local employment and project suppliers from among First Nations-owned businesses.

Other key points:
• The Solar River project is ideally located on cleared pastoral land near the SA/NSW Interconnector and substation at Bundey, 110km north of Adelaide.
• CIS funding involves revenue underwriting for the Solar River project. This provides a safetynet that decreases financial uncertainty for investors and encourages more investment
when and where it is needed.
• ZEN has already modified the Solar River project design in response to community feedback, including relocating the planned transmission line.
• ZEN is in constructive negotiations with local Traditional Owner groups, including Ngadjuri Nation Aboriginal Corporation and Mid-Murray Aboriginal Corporation, regarding the execution of Community Benefit Agreements that will commit the Solar River project to ongoing engagement, cultural heritage management, employment, procurement and funding for the life of the project.

Quotes attributable to ZEN Energy CEO, Anthony Garnaut:

“ZEN is doing things differently and in partnership with local communities to achieve a successful renewable energy transition.

“We seek to build renewable energy projects in regions where people don’t have a reliable energy supply, and we build projects on land that has already been cleared. Designing and delivering benefits for people and nature is a clear and logical priority for local communities.”

Media contact: Paul Sheridan, 0410 516 656, paul.sheridan@zenenergy.com.au