TOKYO, Nov 11 Reuters - Japan's biggest refiner, Eneos Holdings Inc., said on Monday it would buy Japan Renewable Energy for about 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) to expand its low-carbon business, joining a list of major global corporate players looking at carbon reduction instead of fossil fuels.
Eneos, which aims to have net zero emissions by 2040 and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, will buy Japan Renewable Energy from Goldman Sachs and the JSE Renewable Technologies for Power Sector Development.
It said the deal, which marks the first big purchase of renewables by a top Japanese oil company, would help it meet its goal to have more than 1,000 megawatts MW of renewable electricity in Japan and abroad by March 2023.
I. Japanese oil companies have ventured more into the renewables industry, particularly after Tokyo vowed to reduce emissions earlier this year as well as their overseas peers such as Royal Dutch Shell.
Founded in 2012, Japan Renewable Energy develops and builds renewable energy assets and has 419 MW of solar, onshore wind and biomass capacity in operation, with a further 410 MW under construction.
Given its comparatively small capacity, Japan Renewable will be unlikely to make much of an immediate contribution to Eneos typical annual sales of around 10 trillion yen $90 billion however, the deal signifies Eneos' intent to stop burning fossil fuels. Japan is on track to double the renewable resources target, focusing on the third largest economy in the world.
Eneos controls half the market for gasoline and other fuels in Japan, but has seen its customer base shrink due to a falling population and shifting tastes for many years.