A fund under the management of BlackRock Real Assets has agreed to acquire solarZero, a leading player in the solar and smart battery sector based in New Zealand.
As part of the acquisition, BlackRock Real Assets intends to commit over NZD$100 million of capital over the next three years to accelerate the growth of solarZero’s solar and battery technology platform.
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Established in 2008, solarZero is a leading provider of roof-top solar and smart battery across residential, commercial, and community buildings in New Zealand. As a leading “solar-as-a-service” option in New Zealand, solarZero aims to make solar and low-priced energy more accessible for New Zealanders by setting a fixed monthly solar services fee with no initial upfront installation costs for the consumer.
To date, solarZero’s 8,500 GridForGood customers have enjoyed a collective NZD$4.5 million in power bill savings and generated thousands of hours of back-up power during outages. This has contributed to the curbing of close to 10,950 tonnes of carbon emissions as well as delivered over 89GWh (Gigawatt hours) of solar energy in New Zealand.[3]
solarZero is the first residential solar and battery investment made by BlackRock’s Climate Infrastructure business in the Asia-Pacific region.
BlackRock Asia-Pacific co-head of climate infrastructure Charlie Reid said, “New Zealand is widely recognised as a global leader in renewable energy and climate finance, and we are pleased to make our first investment in this market.
“Our move into New Zealand demonstrates BlackRock’s commitment to invest in attractive markets as part of our broader efforts to offer a flow of addressable global climate investment opportunities for our clients.
“solarZero is a global pioneer, and we look forward to supporting its expansion into other Asia-Pacific markets and, at the same time, to accelerating New Zealand’s net zero journey.”
solarZero founder and CEO Andrew Booth said, “Kiwis want clean and resilient energy. BlackRock Climate Infrastructure team’s investment and backing will enable us to rapidly increase our scale, grow our energy services network, and accelerate the transition to a 100% clean energy future.
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“By 2030, 50% of the world’s energy will be generated in the Asia Pacific region. The window to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis is closing fast, and the power couple of solar plus storage is one of the few true paths to energy security, stable power prices, and a livable planet.
“We need to take urgent action and accessing BlackRock’s global network and deep expertise in climate infrastructure will provide the support we need to become a global “solar-as-a-service” solution.”
