Hanwha Energy boosts Australian renewables strategy with $150m injection

The Australian arm of Korean giant Hanwha Energy is tipping $150 million of new investment funds into its vertically integrated renewable energy business – a move that flies in the face of legacy electricity retailers seeking to keep pace with the transition to green energy, and smaller retailers exiting the market.

Hanwha Energy Australia, together with its retail energy businesses Nectr, combines utility-scale renewable energy generation, rooftop solar and home batteries, retail energy, finance and technology that offers a one-stop-shop for consumer energy needs.

The $150 million investment round was supported by a consortium of financial institutions, including Woori PE Asset Management, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) and KDB Capital.

Hanwha says the capital injection will enable it to deliver digital platforms to connect distributed energy sources across the electricity grid via a virtual power plant.

It will also allow it to develop utility-scale renewable energy assets such as solar farms and large-scale batteries to supply Australia’s National Electricity Market and support a rapid expansion and diversification of its retail presence.

By increasing its capacity to generate renewable energy, Hanwha can sidestep the wholesale electricity market, where some forecasts see prices soaring again after reaching record highs as the Russia-Ukraine war continues and winter arrives in the Northern Hemisphere.

“The capital injection will enable us to significantly expand our presence in utility-scale projects, grow our retail and distributed energy customer base, and continue to develop technology platforms to connect Australian consumers with reliable, affordable, renewable power,” MD and Hanwha Energy Australia head Tae Hong Kim said.

Founded in 2018 in Sydney, Hanwha Energy Australia has already had a significant impact on the retail electricity market, delivering affordable, cleaner, greener energy solutions for Australians through its retail energy division Nectr.

Nectr first disrupted the Australian retail energy sector by exclusively offering 100 per cent carbon-neutral energy plans, and recently expanded its offering to include Clean Energy Council certified installation of Solar, Solar + Battery, and Battery systems, bundled with competitive energy plans with no upfront costs or interest fees.

Hanwha Energy says it also plans to continue to develop and invest in utility-scale energy generation and storage assets, such as the existing 43 MW Gregadoo and the 120 MW Jindera solar farm, and utility-scale battery energy storage projects to deliver renewable energy into the National Electricity Market.