Japan’s largest oil refiner Eneos Corporation has made a major move in the energy transition with a deal to acquire Japan Renewable Energy Corporation (JRE), indirectly owned by the infrastructure business within Goldman Sachs and an affiliate of Singapore’s GIC Private. The transaction, estimated around JPY200bn ($1.78bn), is expected to close in late January 2022.
The move is part of Eneos’ goals to achieve carbon neutrality in its own CO2 emissions in 2040 and to have a renewable power generation capacity of over 1GW in Japan and abroad by March 2023. JRE currently has a pipeline of around 708 MW and Eneos expects its total renewables capacity in operation and under construction to be approximately 1.22 GW after the transaction.
JRE was established by Goldman Sachs in 2012, backed by capital from Goldman Sachs and GIC. The company has a renewable asset base across the nation, diversified in solar, onshore wind, biomass, and a potential 300 MW offshore wind scheme in partnership with Germany’s Wpd.
