South Korean solar development firm Brite Energy Partners (BEP) said it has secured an additional investment of over $100 million from BlackRock Alternatives’ Climate Infrastructure business.
The investment will be used for the acquisition and construction of BEP’s small-scale solar assets in South Korea, which will deliver a total of over 500 MW in power generation as well as for the acceleration of its newly launched electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging business, the company said.
In 2021, BlackRock Real Assets said it would inject over $100 million “over time” in BEP. This was BlackRock Real Assets’ first investment in South Korea’s small-scale solar sector.
BEP focuses on developing and acquiring small-scale solar projects with installed capacity under 3 MW. The company currently operates more than 100 solar sites across the country with 100% ownership.
In November 2021, BEP ventured into the EV-charging business under the brand “Water” and launched its first charging station in Gwangwhamun, Seoul. Water targets to build more than 100 fast-charging stations in Korea by 2025.
South Korea’s EV-charging market was ranked seventh largest in the world in 2021 when it surpassed the 1% penetration mark in terms of the total number of pure battery EVs against total registered cars, BEP stated. Meanwhile, the local government has aimed at a 4.4% penetration rate by 2025 and 11.5% by 2030.
“South Korea’s carbon neutrality goal is a core mission for the current generation to accomplish in an accelerated fashion and an overriding obligation we should contribute to the next generations, be it environmental or economic considerations,” said Heeseong Brian Kim, CEO and founder of BEP, adding that the firm is committed to making further investments in Korea’s clean energy infrastructure.
BlackRock closed its third global renewable power fund at $4.8 billion in April 2021, making it the largest independent climate infrastructure fund globally. The fund, Global Renewable Power Fund III, invests in renewable power generation across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. More than a third of the fund’s corpus has been marked for investments in APAC-based climate infrastructure assets.