Zen seals deal to develop four new big battery and solar projects across three states

Zen Energy has sealed the deal on plans to co-develop around 695 megawatts (MW) of multi-hour big batteries and 100 MW of solar across three Australian states, after locking in $A14 million from Taiwanese equity partner HD Renewable Energy Co (HDRE).

Taiwan-listed HDRE, valued at more than $1.1 billion, in November signed up to spend $43 million on a 9.7 per cent stake in the Ross Garnaut-backed Zen, and co-develop and manage a 1.4 gigawatt (GW) solar and storage pipeline through a joint venture dubbed ZEBRE.

The JV’s flagship investment, Solar River in South Australia, is a hybrid solar and battery project comprising 256MW storage – with between 2.5 up to 8 hours of storage capacity – and 210MW of solar that is currently progressing through final grid connection approvals.

This week’s milestone investment will see HDRE acquire the development rights of four greenfield battery and hybrid solar projects in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland with a total capacity of around 795MW and “potential for further expansion.”

The investment finalises HDRE’s acquisition of 70 per cent of these projects, which it will progress with Zen retaining 30 per cent on the ZEBRE platform.

Among the new projects is Zen’s Wagga Wagga BESS in the NSW Riverina region, which has a planned capacity of 105MW/420MWh. Development approval for the big battery is expected in 2025, with construction commencing in 2026.

Details of the other three projects are a little more vague, but include a standalone BESS in Gippsland, Victoria, and and solar-storage hybrid facility near Gympie in south-east Queensland.

Zen Energy was introduced to HDRE at the start of 2024 by a mutual battery supplier, and in June of that year the duo signed a cooperation agreement to look at energy storage and green hydrogen projects.

In comments on November, Zen CEO Anthony Garnaut said the company had been on the hunt for partners “willing to move fast,” and found that HDRE was “motivated to get storage projects up and running in Australia as quickly as possible.”

“We’re primarily seeking to accelerate our storage program and that means contracting more storage into our portfolio and accelerating our own development program,” Garnaut said at the time.

Already, Zen is developing the 111 MW, 290 MWh Templers battery in South Australia, which it bought Renewable Energy Solutions. This battery, which is three quarters of the way through construction, is also expected to join the ZEBRE portfolio further down the track.

Zen is also progressing plans for the 1,000 MW, eight-hour Western Sydney pumped hydro project, which is proposed for land that once served the New South Wales coal industry.