2023 has been a year full of accomplishment and growth for Hive.
Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen significant progress across all sectors of the Hive Group, including PV sales, our first BESS sale, approvals and progress on our circular economy ventures, and new appointments across the organisation.
Here are some of the best updates from the Hive during 2023 and how they support our mission to create a net-zero future. We can’t wait to see what the next 12 months will bring!
January
Our plans for 4 GW of PV in Türkiye were announced:
We launched our plans to attract $4bn direct investment for 4 GW of proposed co-located solar and BESS projects across 30 locations in the country, projects ranging from 11-230 MW.
Deadlines were met on four Spanish projects:
The Spanish team received environmental approval on four projects after meeting development milestones and nominated timelines.
February
Mike O’Neill joined the team as CEO of Hive Renewables:
Hive Renewables was formed within the Hive Energy group, dedicated to the development of solar PV, battery storage, and wind projects. Mike joined the team to oversee and manage the renewables pipeline.
Hive sold its first project in New Zealand:
Alongside Ethical Power and Solar South West, we completed the sale of our first large-scale solar farm in NZ, near Lauriston. The 93-hectare site will hold around 80,000 solar panels, with a 52 MW power capacity.
We acquired a 50% share in BambooLogic:
The Hive Ventures team completed a new acquisition in Netherlands’ based bamboo plantation company, BambooLogic. The company will produce low-waste bamboo to be used across the textile, paper, construction, composite, and food sectors, as well as sequestering carbon.
TEG and Hive announced Joint Venture plans to develop a 3 GW green ammonia development:
The project, located in Tierra Del Fuego, Chile, will produce around 1.3mtpa of green ammonia across Asia, Europe, and the Americas once in production, supporting the decarbonisation of many hard-to-abate sectors.
March
Hive and partners sold a 50 MW BESS project in Scotland:
French utility company, Engie, acquired Broxburn BESS in Scotland, which had been developed by Hive, Ethical Power, EcoDev Group, and Sirius Group.
Our partnership with Hay Festival was announced:
In 2023 we teamed up with Hay Festival to launch a new set of events within ‘Hive Hub’, focusing on sustainability and climate issues.
We reached 2,000 MW of completed solar projects:
In March we reached 2 GW of sold/completed capacity across projects in Cuba, New Zealand, Spain, Türkiye, and the UK.
In Italy, our projects made new strides:
Hive’s Italian portfolio made progress across multiple areas, including evacuation permits granted, appealing statuses reached, launched connections, and securing grid. This was also the first time we mentioned that our projects will support green hydrogen development in the country.
April
We secured our first solar site in Chile:
In April we secured a 165-hectare greenfield site in the central zone in Chile, which was the first in the country for Hive.
June
Hive Poland acquired three solar projects:
The three PV developments were acquired from 01Cyberaton Proenergy. The agreement was for a minimum of 700 MW with RtB expected across the portfolio by 2026.
In Spain, our first BESS project achieved a positive connection:
BESS was established as a key area of interest for Hive in 2023. In June we successfully achieved a point of connection to a 41 MW storage project in Puntiró.
July
Two Serbian projects reached new milestones:
Our pipeline in Serbia reached 2.2 GW, with progression on four PV projects.
We made our first project sale in Italy:
In a first for Hive, we completed our first deal in Italy, selling four projects to GreenIT.
August
Hive and partners complete the sale of two operational solar parks:
Alongside Ethical Power and CH1 Investment Partners LLP, we completed the sale of two assets to Fuse Energy. The sites were 5.1 MW Netley North, and 12.1 MW Bullous Park.
We announced plans for one of the largest hydrogen valleys in Italy:
Working with Renovo Bioeconomy, we will be supporting the development of Italy’s first hydrogen valley. The project will be based in Mantua and has already secured the highest public allowance in a national tender.
Hive Ecosystems celebrated its first year of production:
Hive Ecosystems looked back on its achievements over the first 12 months since launching. The team has eradicated invasive plants from the farm, installed solar panels, managed on-going testing, planted more than 200 indigenous trees, undertaken surveys, and planted more than 850,000 spekboom cuttings.
Hive Türkiye received four pre-license agreements:
The Energy Marketing Regulatory Authority confirmed pre-licenses on four of our PV and BESS projects across the country. It was a great achievement for us as there was around five times more applications than awarded capacity.
Our Spanish team partnered with the University of the Balearic Islands:
The partnership between Hive and the UIB is to undertake studies on the compatibility of agricultural crops with the production of PV energy.
Following the announcement of Mantua hydrogen valley, we launched Ferrara hydrogen valley:
The projects are geographically connected via River Po, in Italy, an important route for commercial exchange once the projects are in production.
October
Hive sold two PV projects in Spain:
The two projects, with a total capacity of 9 MW, were sold to renewable investor, Korkia.
The Remainder of our New Zealand project portfolio was acquired:
Along with Ethical Power and Solar South West, we sold our portfolio of nine PV projects to Lodestone Energy.
Hive Hydrogen Spain signed engineering contract with thyssenkrupp Uhde:
The partnership means that thyssenkrupp Uhde will deliver Pre-FEED to support the development of our first green hydrogen/ammonia plant in Spain.
November
Our first Greek solar project was sold:
We sold our 267 MW Consortium project in Greece to renewable energy specialist, JUWI. The project was developed by Hive to RtB status and construction is expected to begin in 2024.
December
Hive Hydrogen SA signed a memorandum of co-operation with ITOCHU:
The partnership is in place to support the advancement of our Coega green ammonia project in South Africa.
We launched our plans to support the growth of BESS in Chile:
Following a successful year in Chile with the launch of our Joint Venture green ammonia hub, and establishment of our solar portfolio, we will be working on BESS to support LATAM’s decarbonisation strategy.
