Keppel, MET JV to target 1 GW of renewables in Western Europe

Keppel Infrastructure Holdings Pte Ltd (KI), a unit of Singaporean conglomerate Keppel Corp Ltd (SGX:BN4), and Swiss-based energy company MET Holding AG have created a joint venture that will target the renewables sector in Western Europe.

Keppel MET Renewables will invest in greenfield and brownfield solar and onshore wind assets and will aim to quickly scale up to at least 1 GW of operating and ready-to-build capacity, according to a joint announcement today.

The joint venture will be seeded with 213 MW of early-stage Italian solar projects from MET Group, which are expected to become operational in the period from end-2024 to mid-2025.

Keppel MET Renewables represents an expansion of KI and MET Group’s partnership. KI took 20% in MET Group in 2020. It has now divested part of its MET Group ownership, namely a 10% stake, to MET Group’s founder and chief executive Benjamin Lakatos, and reinvested the proceeds into the joint venture. KI will invest about EUR 30 million (USD 31.2m) as start-up equity into Keppel MET Renewables. KI and MET Group will hold equal stakes of 49.9% in the joint venture, with Benjamin Lakatos owning 0.2%.

The KI and MET Group will use the new business to support the transformation of their power portfolios towards more renewables. The companies expect renewables demand in the EU to grow rapidly as the European Commission seeks to bolster energy security and accelerate the green transition with a proposed 45% renewable energy target by 2030.

Besides Italy, the joint venture will pursue opportunities in other Western European markets such as Germany, France, Spain and Portugal.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.040)

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