Australian renewable energy developer ZEN Energy and Taiwan’s HD Renewable Energy (HDRE) furthered their partnership at the end of 2024 with plans to establish an Australian joint venture focused on solar PV and energy storage.
As confirmed on 23 December, the two companies will look to jointly launch a green energy investment and asset management platform called ZEBRE, with a total target investment capacity of 1.4GW.
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ZEBRE will be established through HDRE II Trust, a trusted company wholly owned by HDRE, and Zen Future, a subsidiary of ZEN Energy. Under the current planned structure, HDRE Trust II will secure an equity ratio of 70%, with Zen Future obtaining the remaining 30%.
In a statement made public on 8 November, the two organisations mutually agreed to pursue energy storage and green hydrogen projects in Australia, Taiwan, and potentially Japan. Under the terms of the partnership, HDRE said it would subscribe for 9.7% of shares in ZEN Energy for AU$43 million (US$27.7 million).
Building on this initial agreement, ZEBRE will broaden the scope of the focus technologies by including solar PV. HDRE said the platform will look to develop 400MW of PV and 1GW of energy storage.
Commenting on the new partnership, ZEN Energy CEO Anthony Garnaut hailed the use of energy storage assets, referencing the potential of long-duration and pumped hydro in Australia’s energy transition.
“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 transitions away from fossil fuels,” Garnaut said.
“Securing Australia’s place at the head of the rapid worldwide shift to clean energy and realising the economic opportunities of becoming a renewable energy superpower depend on having global partnerships.”
ZEBRE secures 210MW solar-plus-storage site in South Australia
Alongside the joint venture announcement, the two companies confirmed that the new entity had also secured its first renewable energy site, the 210MW Solar River solar-plus-storage site in South Australia.
The plant is being developed near Robertstown, around 125km north of Adelaide’s state capital. It will generate green electricity from approximately 400,000 solar PV modules and require around AU$540 million to fully construct.
The site includes plans for a 256MW co-located battery energy storage system. ZEN Energy, the site’s developer, is varying the development approval to allow up to 8-hours of duration but plans to proceed in the near term with 2.5-hours of storage capacity. The project will connect to the ElectraNet network via the newly constructed Bundey substation.
The Solar River project was successful in the first funding round of the expanded Capacity Investment Scheme in September, and ZEN Energy hopes construction on the site will begin in 2026.
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.
