BlackRock To Pledge A$1B In Australian Battery Storage Assets - Report - BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

A BlackRock, Inc BLK Real Assets fund looks to acquire Akaysha Energy, an Australian firm that develops battery storage and renewable energy projects.
BlackRock aims to commit over A$1 billion (around $700 million) of capital "to support the build-out" of more than 1-gigawatt battery storage assets.
BlackRock shared Akaysha's plans to develop energy storage projects in a range of Asia-Pacific markets, including Japan and Taiwan, in the near term.
Charlie Reid, BlackRock's co-head of climate infrastructure for Asia-Pacific, said the firm had been hunting for a platform to scale up energy storage and renewables assets in Australia to support the transitioning grid.
"That's a $US100 trillion opportunity between now and 2050, and battery storage is a fundamental requirement in order to progress on that journey to net zero," Reid said.
Reid said he expected BlackRock would deploy the full $1 billion-plus of planned capital investment in storage within 3-5 years.
The International Energy Agency has said that a "rapid scale-up of energy storage is critical to meet flexibility needs in a decarbonized electricity system," CNBC reports.
According to the IEA, investment in battery storage grew by nearly 40% in 2020, reaching $5.5 billion.
As per the Australian government, fossil fuels accounted for 76% of total electricity generation in 2020, with coal's share coming in at 54%, gas at 20%, and oil at 2%. Renewables' share came in at 24%.
Previously BlackRock shared plans to establish a perpetual infrastructure strategy to help companies transition to lower-carbon business models over time.
BlackRock had initially planned 35% - 40% of its investments in Europe.
Price Action: BLK shares closed higher by 0.17% at $757.07 on Tuesday.
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