J-Power, one of Japan’s largest energy utilities, has lobbed a $375 million bid to buy Queensland renewables developer Genex Power, 14 months after Scott Farquhar’s Skip Capital and Stonepeak Partners walked away from their own takeover proposal.

Shares in Genex, Australia’s only listed pure-play renewables developer, surged as much as 32 per cent on news of the move, the latest in a string of deals between major Japanese groups and local energy companies. While agreements have historically focused primarily on Australia’s natural gas and coal sectors, clean energy has shot up the investment agenda.