Hulic, a publicly traded real estate developer and owner, will enter grid-scale battery storage business this year, The Nikkei reported on January 28, 2025. Its report follows Hulic’s disclosure of plans to enter the renewable energy business in the company’s 2024 annual report published mid-last year.
According to The Nikkei, Hulic plans to start by building approximately three BESS projects, including in Chiba and Shizuoka prefectures, in 2025. By 2034, the company reportedly plans to invest 100 billion yen in grid-scale storage.
The company’s annual report explained that prior to entering the renewable energy business, “we have been focusing on RE100 and making all power consumed in our buildings 100% renewable.” With the goals in sight, continued the report, Hulic decided to launch a for-profit renewable energy business and, as the first step in the effort, made an equity investment in a grid-scale BESS fund at the end of 2023.
Hulic’s move follows that of other real estate companies looking to leverage their core competencies of being able to secure land and funding in the growing grid-scale BESS industry. Tokyu Land is one of the real estate companies that already have operational BESS. Kyushu-based Grandes and Kansai-based Wada Kohsan are among the real estate companies that announced their plans to enter the business recently.
