Marubeni Buying Over 344 MW Solar Portfolio In Taiwan

• Marubeni Corporation is foraying into the Taiwanese renewable energy space by acquiring solar developer Chenya Energy
• Backed by I Squared Capital, Chenya Energy owns 344.4 MW of solar power portfolio in the country
• Marubeni says this acquisition will help it gain expertise in the floating solar power business which it plans to expand in Taiwan and other regions

Japan's Marubeni Corporation is strengthening its foothold in the solar market with the acquisition of a solar power development and construction company in Taiwan, Chenya Energy. The Taiwanese firm will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Marubeni once the share purchase agreement with independent global infrastructure investment manager I Squared Capital completes.

Chenya Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of I Squared Capital's pan-Asian renewable portfolio company Asia Cube Energy, develops, constructs and operates solar power plants in Taiwan and has 344.4 MW of floating, ground mounted and rooftop solar power capacity.     

"By acquiring Chenya and Chenya's solar power generation assets, including one of the world's largest floating solar power plants, Marubeni will gain expertise in the floating solar power business and continue to enhance its renewable energy development capabilities," explained Marubeni the rationale behind the acquisition. "Through Chenya, Marubeni plans to expand the floating solar power business in Taiwan as well as in other regions."

Chenya Energy is one of the three developers contracted by the Changhua County to develop a 320 MW solar zone in Xianxi Township of Taiwan which will also feature floating solar.

While Marubeni or I Squared Capital do not reveal financial details of the transaction in their official statements, according to Nikkei Asian Review the Japanese company has invested more than $100 million to acquire Chenya Energy with 270,000 kW output. 

The Japanese general trading conglomerate says it will hold a stake in more than 950 MW of power generation assets within Taiwan with the addition of Chenya Energy's solar power capacity.

Marubeni has been strengthening its renewable energy portfolio across the globe in line with its commitment to bring down coal-fired net generation capacity of around 3 GW in half by 2030 and will not enter into any new coal-fired power generation business. It aims to expand the ratio of its renewable power generation portfolio from around 10% in 2018 to nearly 20% by 2023.

While the Japanese business house is growing its expertise in the solar space organically by directly participating in the development of projects, a recent example is the partnership with Total in Qatar, Marubeni is also eyeing building its portfolio with acquisitions even in the off-grid space as in Azuri Technologies.

Taiwan also happens to be a booming solar market in Southeast Asia these days. Recently, a GlobalData report forecasts Taiwan to add new solar PV capacity of 2.25 GW in 2020 after installing 1.6 GW last year (see GlobalData Expects Taiwan To Add 2.25 GW Solar In 2020).