EDP to Supply Renewable Power to Japanese, Korean Firms

EDP, the renewables unit of Portugal’s largest utility has plans to expand in Asian market by selling power directly to Japanese and Korean companies.

Under its expansion plans, the unit, EDP Renovaveis SA (EDPR), aims to invest 21 billion euros ($23.12 billion) in renewables over the next four years, 80% in North America and Europe. However, it hopes that deals with corporates will help to break into the Asia-Pacific region.

“We’re actually in negotiation and actually starting to open up to the Japanese and South Korean corporates, which can itself be a huge enabler for growth,” Pedro Vasconcelos, the Chief Operating Officer for Asia-Pacific, said.

The Asia-Pacific region makes up just 5% of the company’s total energy portfolio, he informed. He further pointed that major investments in renewable power projects in Vietnam and the acquisition of solar firm Sunseap helped increase its Asia power generation capacity 25-fold in a year, to 712 megawatts (MW).

“Now the utility is looking to add new capacity in Australia and China, besides expanding its presence in Vietnam and Singapore,” he commented.

EDPR also has plans to replicate its operations in the region, where it supplies green energy to Meta, Amazon and Microsoft, Vasconcelos said.

Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, Chief Executive at EDP and EDPR, said, “Links to grid networks and mechanisms such as auctions to enable long-term renewable power supply deals would benefit growth in such investments.It’s really more a question of defining the clear regulatory framework so we can make long-term investments.”

In February, the European Commission unveiled a green deal industrial plan in response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) it feared could disadvantage companies based in Europe.

“Taxes and caps on power tariffs in some European nations stifled new investment,while U.S. policies spurred companies to invest there,” Stilwell d’Andrade informed.