Shai Agassi’s electric car venture Better Place LLC has signed a $60 million 10-year deal with Australia’s ActewAGL Ltd. for the supply of renewable energy to Better Place’s electric car charging network in Canberra. This is the largest renewable energy deal of its kind in Australia.
ActewAGL will supply the renewable energy from wind, hydro, and solar sources.
“The company wants to promote a similar deal in Israel,” says Better Place Israel CEO Moshe Kaplinski. “From the beginning, we said that we would buy renewable electricity for powering our recharging network, and we are therefore preparing plans and standing behind the company’s commitment.
“We are setting a challenge for the Israeli market and government authorities that are driving the switch to renewable energy. The electric car is an important catalyst in the transition to clean energy production, and we call on Israeli companies seeking to build solar farms or private clean power stations to cooperate. I believe that we will sign similar agreements in Israel.”
Better Place Australia CEO Evan Thornley said, “Today’s agreement is a significant milestone for Better Place as we move towards the deployment of our electric car charging infrastructure in Canberra later this year.”
Thornley added, “This agreement is part of a high-value, long term relationship that demonstrates the willingness of industry participants such as ActewAGL to be at the leading edge of environmentally responsible solutions that support Australia’s transition to a low-carbon future.
“Better Place has always been committed to supplying our electric car network with renewable energy. When it’s done right, electric cars are the missing piece of the puzzle that can support renewables and help to de-carbonize the grid. The cars on our network will provide distributed storage, which is the key missing ingredient particularly for intermittent renewables like wind.”
