ZEBRE PLATFORM
Guiding ZEN Energy in shaping a renewable platform that fuels Australia’s energy transition.
Client
sector
ENGAGEMENT
Our Role
Background
ZEN Energy is an Australian renewable energy company focused on accelerating the transition to a zero-carbon economy. The business supplies clean electricity to large commercial, industrial, and government customers and develops utility-scale solar and battery storage projects.
ZEN’s mission is to deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy solutions while supporting Australia’s decarbonisation goals.
Prior to this transaction, ZEN Energy held a portfolio of development assets across the National Electricity Market (NEM) that required a clear pathway to capitalisation to support its growth ambitions and accelerate project delivery.
ZEBRE is a joint venture between ZEN Energy and HD Renewable Energy Co. Ltd. formed in late 2024 to develop renewable energy assets in Australia.
Our Role
Strategy Development: Developed a long-term strategy to accelerate the development portfolio and attract aligned capital partners.
Equity Pathfinder: Conducted a rigorous market sounding process to secure the most strategically aligned capital partner, ensuring strong investor fit and long-term support for platform growth.
Portfolio Building: Engineered a transaction structure tying milestone payments to development progress which provided balanced risk-sharing.
Project Financing: Post-transaction, refined the financing strategy for the platform to reflect the strategic objectives of the incoming shareholder, ensuring flexible funding options and efficient capital utilisation.
Asset Management: Structured the Development Management Services Agreement (DMSA) to leverage ZEN Energy’s development and asset management expertise while providing a transitional runway to build out the full platform team. CS Capital also managed the platform’s day-to-day activities and provide strategic support to shareholders, safeguarding their interests and enhancing long-term returns.
Key Outcomes
Following a comprehensive market sounding process, HD Renewable Energy was introduced as a strategic equity partner.
HD Renewable Energy is a publicly listed renewable energy developer on the Taipei Exchange (TWSE:6873) and one of Taiwan’s leading platforms, active across solar, BESS, green energy retailing and distributed energy, with operations spanning Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and Australia.
HDRE subsequently acquired a majority stake in the ZEBRE platform and a minority interest in ZEN Energy, providing:
Accelerated development pipeline: Funding for a 1GW BESS and 400MW solar diversified platform across 4 states
Balanced risk-sharing: Milestone-based payments under a DMSA
Strategic alignment: A structure enabling ZEN to leverage its in-house expertise while retaining meaningful equity stake.
Long-term value creation: CS Capital’s project financing and asset management strategy ensured the platform’s flexibility for future growth.
This is a major milestone for ZEN, HDRE and also Australia’s renewable energy transition as the ZEBRE platform will boost the current 3GW of national energy storage capacity by an additional 1GW.
Actual aerial view of Templers
