Page 12 - AsiaElec Week 41 2021

AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec

Japan’s Eneos to buy Japan

Renewable Energy for $1.8bn

JAPAN JAPAN’S biggest refiner, Eneos Holdings, The price tag is “appropriate”, given JRE’s asset
is to buy Japan Renewable Energy (JRE) for size and ability to develop a wide range of renew-
JPY200bn ($1.8bn) in order to expand its ables including solar, wind and biomass, Inoue
low-carbon business. said, adding the deal also buys the company time
Eneos, which aims to have net-zero emissions to boost its renewable assets portfolio.
by 2040, will buy JRE from Goldman Sachs and Founded in 2012, JRE has 708 MW in
Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC. The renewable energy assets including those under
company is joining a list of major global compa- construction on an equity basis. After the deal,
nies moving away from climate-changing fossil Eneos’ renewable assets will amount to 1,220
fuels, Reuters reported. MW.
It said the deal, which marks the first big pur- Given its comparatively small capacity, JRE
chase of a renewables firm by a top Japanese oil will be unlikely to make much of an immediate
company, would help it meet its target of hav- contribution to Eneos’ typical annual sales of
ing over 1,000 MW of renewables in Japan and around 10 trillion yen ($90bn).
abroad by March 2023. However, the deal points to Eneos’ intent to
Japan’s oil companies have ventured more start switching out of fossil fuels. Japan is set to
into the renewables sector, much like their over- nearly double official targets for renewable sup-
seas peers such as Royal Dutch Shell, especially plies in the energy mix of the world’s third-larg-
after Tokyo vowed to cut down more emissions est economy.
earlier this year. Eneos controls half the market for gasoline
“As the world moves towards a decarbonised and other fuels in Japan, but has for many years
and circular society, this acquisition will mark a seen its customer base shrink owing to a declin-
key turning point to fundamentally transform ing population.™
our business structure,” Keitaro Inoue, Eneos’
senior vice president, told a news conference.

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