BlackRock Real Assets has acquired Australian battery storage company Akaysha Energy to be its Asia-Pacific platform.
The US firm expects to deploy A$1bn (β¬692M) over the next three to five years, initially in Australia and then βputting boots on the groundβ in new markets such as Japan and Taiwan.
βThis is our biggest deal globally by some margin and our first battery storage transaction in Asia Pacific,β Charlie Reid, APAC co-head of climate infrastructure, BlackRock, told ΒιΆΉΣ³» Real Assets.
Reid said the near term focus was the Australian market. βOur funding will be deployed in the first 150MW project.
Akaysha has a programme to build-out more than 1GW of battery storage assets across nine projects in the National Electricity Market in Australia.
At full capacity, Akayshaβs projects will help accelerate the roll-out of a further 4GW of supply of clean, affordable renewable energy across Australia.
Akaysha was founded by Nick Carter, a former Tesla and Macquarie Capital executive.
Carter said by tapping into BlackRockβs global capabilities and track record in climate infrastructure, Akaysha would be able to work towards accelerating the installation of utility-scale energy storage technologies in the region.
Andrew Landman, head of Australasia, BlackRock, said, βThis investment reflects our commitment to accelerating Australiaβs energy transition.β
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