The international investment company KKR announced the signing of final agreements that will contribute A$500 million from funds controlled by KKR to a strategic partnership with CleanPeak Energy (“CleanPeak”) to expand its distributed energy platform at a quick pace. With the help of KKR’s investment, CleanPeak will expand and build a pipeline of distributed solar, battery storage, and micro-grid solutions for the commercial and industrial (“C&I”) sector in Australia.
CleanPeak, which was co-founded in 2017 by Philip Graham and Jon Hare, is a prominent supplier of fully funded, integrated solar and storage systems for major corporations around Australia. The company currently delivers more than $200 million in construction projects in the industry and runs more than 50 distributed generation sites throughout Australia, including more than 140MW of solar assets and 35 MWh of battery energy storage system (“BESS”) projects.
“Australia’s C&I energy market is at an inflection point as corporates seek bankable pathways to better energy efficiency, reliability and affordability,” stated Neil Arora, Partner and Head of KKR’s Climate Transition strategy for Asia. “By combining CleanPeak’s proven operating platform with KKR’s global network, operational expertise, and deep experience across our energy and infrastructure teams, we are well positioned to unlock significant opportunities for corporate customers looking to decarbonize and reduce their energy bills.”
CleanPeak Chief Executive Philip Graham welcomed the strategic partnership, “KKR is a perfect strategic partner for us as we seek to rapidly expand renewable energy solutions for our customers. They bring deep energy transition expertise, financial strength and a partnership mindset that will allow CleanPeak to continue to offer net zero solutions at the same time as accelerating our growth plans through bolt‑on acquisitions. Together, we will deliver reliable, lower‑carbon energy for corporate Australia.”
“CleanPeak’s distributed energy approach reduces network costs which make up a significant portion of the all-in cost of retail electricity and results in more competitive power prices for our customers,” stated Jon Hare, CleanPeak’s Chief Operating Officer.
This investment is part of KKR’s Global Climate Transition plan. This investment, which is the strategy’s sixth transaction worldwide and its first in Asia-Pacific, demonstrates KKR’s faith in the energy-transition opportunity set. More than US$34 billion has been invested by KKR on environmental sustainability and climate change since 2010. Prior investments have included Avantus, a solar and solar-plus-storage developer in the US; IGNIS P2X, an industrial decarbonization platform; Dawsongroup, an independent asset leasing company that offers a wide range of business-critical solutions; Zenobē, a transport electrification and battery storage solutions specialist based in the UK; and EGC, a German energy service provider.
It is anticipated that the deal would conclude in H2 2025, pending standard regulatory clearances.
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