BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) is understood to have hired Goldman Sachs to sell a stake in three of its battery storage assets. While the value of the potential transaction is unclear, sources believe it could be worth about $500 million. The stakes in the assets on offer sit within BlackRock's Melbourne-based battery storage developer, Akaysha Energy Pty Ltd, which it purchased in 2022 as part of a commitment to invest more than $1 billion into several big batteries across Australia.

At the time the acquisition was announced, The Australian reported that BlackRock Real Assets, an arm of the USD 10 trillion ($14.2 trillion) investment giant, expected to deliver all of Akaysha's nine battery projects under development in Australia, followed by a move into Japan and Taiwan and an expansion into green hydrogen. At the time, it was BlackRock's the biggest green energy play in Australia. BlackRock had earlier invested in two Queensland solar farms and bought a stake in former advertising executive Doug McNamee's Jolt, which had aspirations to install EV chargers around the country.

Akaysha's 10 projects span several Australian states including the 200 MW - 400 MW Orana battery at Wellington in NSW's Central West, the 150 MW Ulinda Park facility at Western Downs in Queensland and Palmerston in Tasmania. Combined, the plants will deliver more than 1GW of storage to the national electricity market between 2025 and 2027. The company was formed several years ago by former Macquarie Capital, AGL Energy and Tesla Executive Nick Carter, along with half a dozen other experts across energy, engineering and finance.

Akaysha has had plans to add renewable energy assets, including green hydrogen assets, to its portfolio across both Australia and Asia. Labor has proposed an 82% renewables target by 2030, nearly triple current levels, requiring an influx of investment over the next few years. BlackRock has been under pressure from climate change activists to take a more aggressive attitude to selling down its stocks in fossil fuel industries.

Sources believe pension funds and superannuation funds would be the most likely buyers, with groups such as Canada's CDPQ (Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Dutch fund APG (APG Algemene Pensioen Groep N.V.) making the most sense.