Korea Zinc Subsidiary Ark Energy In Major Renewable Deals

Ark Energy Corporation Pty Ltd, an Australian subsidiary of zinc, lead and silver giant Korea Zinc Co. Ltd, has acquired a 9 GW solar and wind pipeline from renewable energy developer Epuron Holdings Pty Ltd.

Yun B. Choi, Founder and Chairman of Ark Energy and Vice Chairman of Korea Zinc, said the Epuron acquisition is an important milestone for the company on its way to becoming a world class green independent power producer and green hydrogen business.

The acquisition includes ~4,200MW of early-stage utility-scale wind and solar projects; an investigation pipeline of ~4,800MW; ~7MW of fully contracted off-grid solar generation assets; and a 50% stake in renewables monitoring and forecasting technology company Fulcrum3D.

Epuron’s co-founders Martin Poole and Andrew Durran believe that their company is moving forward in good hands and with an opportunity to play a bigger role in Australia’s energy transition.

In recent time, many metals majors, much like Korea Zinc, have announced significant green initiatives. Anglo-Swiss commodities group Glencore agreed this month to back Canadian battery recycler Li-Cycle to the tune of US$200 million. Further, Australian renewable energy company Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) has joined Dutch investment fund Teslin Participates in providing new growth capital to HyET Solar to support the delivery of a Netherlands-based factory that is expected to produce at least 40MW of thin-film solar PV modules a year.

Back in India, Vedanta Aluminium has announced long-term sourcing of 380 MW of renewable energy for its aluminium smelters. Of this RE, 180 MW will be supplied to the smelter at Jharsuguda and 200 MW is marked for Bharat Aluminium Company BALCO. Additionally, the Ministry of Power has recently awarded the NER-II Transmission Limited Project to Sterlite Power Transmission, a developer of energy transmission infrastructure projects, to create a conducive environment for sustainable power supply in the Northeast region of India.