BlackRock Real Assets Invests $100 Million in Korean Solar Power Company 'BEP'

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] BlackRock Real Assets Investment Division announced on the 18th that it has signed a share acquisition agreement with Brite Energy Partners (BEP), a domestic solar power plant development and investment company.

BlackRock Real Assets plans to invest more than $100 million in BEP to support the acquisition and construction of domestic small and medium-sized solar power plants with a generation capacity of over 350MW. This transaction marks BlackRock Real Assets' first investment in the domestic small and medium-sized solar power sector and is part of the investment strategy of the Global Renewable Power (GRP) fund managed by BlackRock. The fund raised $4.8 billion earlier this year, with more than one-third of the capital allocated to climate infrastructure assets in the Asia-Pacific region.

BEP, a leading company in the domestic solar power sector, has a management team composed of experts with extensive experience and has rapidly built a nationwide portfolio of solar power plants. Utilizing the investment from BlackRock Real Assets, BEP plans to become the largest domestic solar power plant owner and operator. All projects developed and acquired by BEP will enter into long-term contracts of over 20 years with subsidiaries of Korea Electric Power Corporation or domestic RE100-compliant companies.

South Korea's solar market, where the renewable energy sector is rapidly developing overall, currently ranks sixth worldwide. In this context, BlackRock Real Assets is focusing on South Korea as a top priority investment region. South Korea aims to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 and plans to build approximately 30GW of new renewable energy facilities by 2025, with a significant portion expected to be solar power facilities. This implies that at least an average of 6GW of solar power plants will need to be added annually. In recent years, most domestic solar investments have been made in small and medium-sized projects under 3MW, and BEP is expected to consolidate and lead the domestic small and medium-sized solar power sector.

Charlie Reed, Managing Director of BlackRock Renewable Energy Division, said, “The expertise of BEP combined with the capital strength of BlackRock Real Assets will create a powerful force in Korean solar investments,” adding, “Based on this pioneering deal, we expect continued investment of BlackRock clients' funds in the future.”

Heesung Kim, CEO of BEP, stated, “BlackRock pursues sustainable investment and shows strong commitment to renewable energy investments according to its ESG investment strategy,” and added, “With the industry's best expertise and experience, combined with the largest capital ever in the domestic solar industry, we are confident that this will greatly contribute to both the qualitative level and quantitative growth of the domestic solar market.”