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(Bloomberg) — The Australian arm of Octopus Energy Group Ltd. will acquire two local battery projects worth more than A$3 billion ($2.1 billion), expanding the UK company’s footprint in a country that’s seeking to rapidly replace its aging coal fleet with clean energy sources.
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Octopus Australia bought the A$2.4 billion Hanworth Battery Energy Storage System in New South Wales as well as the Dunmore Solar Farm and Battery project in Queensland, which is worth about $900 million, the company said in a statement.
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Australia has become a bellwether for the energy transition, as it seeks to replace its rapidly aging coal power stations and meet an ambitious target to more than double renewable energy generation to 82% by 2030. This has helped to drive a boom in batteries, which can soak up surplus electricity generated by the country’s world-leading solar panel fleet through the day and release it in the evening, when demand is highest and output wanes.
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“Australia still needs new power stations to replace ageing coal plants,” Octopus Australia Chief Executive Officer Sam Reynolds said in the statement. “The difference is that today we can build them using a mix of solar, wind and batteries instead of smokestacks.”
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Octopus is seeking new avenues for growth overseas after reporting a full-year loss, which was driven by lower gas consumption and one-time costs. The company, in which Australian utility Origin Energy Ltd. is an investor, took an initial step in spinning off its software unit at an $8.7 billion valuation late last year.
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The UK firm bought the 1.2-gigawatt Hanworth Battery, which can run for four hours and supply more than half a million homes, from Australian energy developer Enervest, it said. It acquired the 300-megawatt solar farm, linked with a 150 megawatt, two-hour battery, from Samsung C&T Renewable Energy Australia.
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