Japanese refiner ENEOS Holdings, through its subsidiary ENEOS, has agreed to acquire Japan Renewable Energy (JRE) for about JPY200bn ($1.8bn).
JRE is currently owned indirectly by the infrastructure business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management and an affiliate of Global Innovation Consulting (GIC).
ENEOS aims to become carbon neutral by 2040, and plans to expand its total renewable power generation capacity to over 1 GW in Japan and overseas by the end of the financial year 2022.
With this acquisition, the company’s total renewable power generation capacity, domestic and overseas, is expected to reach around 1.22 GW. Eneos senior vice president Keitaro Inoue was quoted by Reuters as saying: “As the world moves toward a decarbonised and circular society, this acquisition will mark a key turning point to fundamentally transform our business structure.”
Established in August 2012 by Goldman Sachs, JRE is a renewable energy company that offers project development to operation and maintenance of renewable power plants. As of September 2021 it has around 379 MW of renewables assets currently in operation, including solar, onshore wind, and biomass projects. When the renewable plants currently under construction are included, its total capacity is expected to reach to nearly 708MW.
JRE is also engaged in the offshore wind development business including monitoring wind conditions and developing construction plans.
ENEOS intends to combine its expertise with JRE’s capabilities in renewable energy development to become a large-scale renewables energy company in Japan.