Vision Ridge Partners, one of the largest managers of impact capital, has invested a total of $400 million into the newly formed Japan-based utility-scale battery storage developer GSSG Chikuden, the asset manager announced.
The company was set up as a joint venture between Vision Ridge Partners and GSSG Solar. It will focus on acquiring, developing and operating projects across Japan’s power grid.
The GSSG Solar management team has committed capital to GSSG Chikuden alongside Vision Ridge.
In the 2024 edition of New Private Markets’ Impact 50 list, Vision Ridge was included as the 23rd largest manager of global impact capital. It most recently launched its core-plus Sustainable Asset Fund IV in 2023, with a target size of $2.5 billion. The firm held a first close on $1.26 billion in December 2024. Since then, it has received commitments from Los Angeles County Employees’ Retirement Association ($200 million) and New York State Common Retirement Fund ($150 million), NPM data shows.
The asset manager made an investment in GSSG Solar itself back in 2014 with capital from its inaugural fund, Sustainable Asset Fund I, affiliate title Infrastructure Investor Deals understands. The core-plus fund held a final close that same year with a total of $436.7 million in commitments.
GSSG Chikuden has an existing pipeline of development projects with secured grid interconnection rights. It will also look to opportunistically acquire projects to expand its reach.
Battery storage projects secured the lion’s share of contracts in a recent Japanese auction, with results released at the end of April, amounting to a total of 1.3GW awarded capacity, affiliate title Infrastructure Investor reported. Since Japan’s inaugural long-term decarbonisation auction process began in 2023, Japan’s auction framework has become a magnet for both international investors and the local developers they work alongside.
The company will be operated by GSSG Solar, which will leverage its “extensive boots on-the-ground experience, broad network and history of energy project development across Japan’s power markets”, Vision Ridge stated.
Reuben Munger, managing director and chief investment officer of Vision Ridge, said: “We think battery storage assets form a crucial part of the emerging sustainable energy economy globally and are confident that GSSG Chikuden’s management team, project development experience and regional relationships will enable it to deliver much-needed energy storage assets to the grid in Japan,” Reuben Munger, managing director and chief investment officer of Vision Ridge, said in a statement.
Vision Ridge Partners and GSSG Solar have worked together in the development of other assets, including a 46.8MW solar project in Japan’s Nagano Prefecture. The 2014 tie-up with GSSG Solar and the latest deal are the only investments Vision Ridge has made in Asia. The manager generally targets investments in North America, while it has also secured two deals in Norway and the UK.
AloJapan.com