BlackRock Real Assets announced that one of the funds it manages has entered into an agreement to acquire solarZero, a leading solar energy and smart battery company based in New Zealand. Specifically, BlackRock Real Assets intends to invest over $ 100 million in capital over the next three years to accelerate the growth of the solar technology platform and solarZero batteries.
Founded in 2008, solarZero is a leading supplier of rooftop solar systems and smart batteries for residential, commercial and community buildings in New Zealand, aiming to make solar and low-cost energy more accessible to New Zealanders, with a fee fixed monthly for solar services with no initial installation costs for the consumer.
To date, solarZero’s 8,500 GridForGood customers have saved a total of NZ $ 4.5 million on their electricity bills and generated thousands of hours of power as backup during outages. This has helped reduce carbon emissions by nearly 10,950 tons and provide over 89 GWh (Gigawatt hour) of solar power to New Zealand. solarZero plans to expand into a number of Asia-Pacific markets, with a short-term focus on Australia, as well as looking to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and beyond.
solarZero is the first residential investment in solar energy and batteries made by BlackRock’s Climate Infrastructure division in the Asia-Pacific region.
According to Precedence Research data from July 2022, the Asia-Pacific region is the leading region for rooftop solar power, accounting for 41% of global capacity in 2021 and representing an opportunity of approximately $ 4 trillion by 2050.