Sumitomo, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Summit Southern Cross Power Holdings (SSCPH), an electric power holding company in Australia, has acquired 100% of the shares of Infinite Energy Holdings(IE).
Image:An Infinite Energy solar PV system powering the Sundance Apartment Building in Scarborough Western Australia. Photo: Courtesy of Sumitomo Corporation.
Infinite Energy Holdings is a Australia-based energy company that develops and sells distributed solar power systems, installs storage batteries, and engages in electricity retailing.
With growing population, popularity for Electronic Vehicles (EVs) also increased in Australia. Following the decreased prices for solar panels along with the availability of support at the federal and state level, small distributed solar power projects have picked up.
Sumitomo said: “Introducing solar power systems in Western Australia, where power prices are high due to the costs incurred in transmitting power through areas of low population density, makes particularly good sense due to the significant sunshine the state receives.”
Apart from selling and installing solar power systems, IE also sells electric power procured through solar power systems and the wholesale electric power market to users via existing power grids.
The firm said: “Adding to its high customer recognition and brand strength, IE has established strategic partnerships with major companies locally and secured sales channels by collaborating with partners in a broad range of industry sectors.”
SSCPH has acquired business interests in the Kwinana Power Plant in 2009 and the Bluewaters Power Plant in 2013, making it an important player in Australia’s electricity generation business.
These two power plants supply approximately 30% of the electric power used by Western Australia’s power grid, which is adequate to power approximately 800,000 households.
SSCPH is expected to help construct a platform for electricity retailing, by bringing its significant corporate resources to IE’s existing business operations.
Sumitomo claims that by engaging in in these efforts to utilize clean power drawn from renewable energies, it is extending and expanding its business along electric power value chains from upstream to downstream.