Danish energy infrastructure investor Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), and British International Investment have launched a US$300 million renewable energy investment platform focused on India,
The platform, named North Star, will receive up to US$150 million each from BII and CIP through the latter’s Growth Markets Fund II (GMF II). The fund will target investments across solar, wind, hybrid and energy storage projects.
Try Premium for just $1
- Full premium access for the first month at only $1
- Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
- Cancel anytime during the trial period
Premium Benefits
- Expert industry analysis and interviews
- Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
- Exclusive event discounts
Or get the full Premium subscription right away
Or continue reading this article for free
North Star is expected to fund projects that generate more than 4 million MWh of clean electricity annually. The platform will focus on supporting project development and construction in a market where developers continue to face financing and execution constraints despite strong tender activity.
The launch marks the first investment under BII’s British Climate Partners (BCP) initiative, a £1.1 billion climate finance programme unveiled last month as part of the institution’s new five-year strategy.
BII said BCP is expected to mobilise £3.5 billion in private capital over the lifetime of its investments, taking total expected commitments to £4.6 billion. The initiative is focused on mobilising institutional capital into climate projects across Asia, including India, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
The companies said North Star has been designed to address India’s renewable energy funding gap, estimated at US$160 billion annually, as the country seeks to more than triple its renewable energy capacity by 2030.
“By establishing a platform alongside BII, we are creating a strong foundation to deploy long‑term capital into scalable, high‑impact renewable investments that contribute meaningfully to India’s decarbonisation and energy security goals,” said Peter Jannik Sjøntoft, partner in CIP’s Growth Markets Funds.
“Traditional development finance alone cannot meet that call, indeed it never could. Nor can it respond to the scale of today’s challenges. We need to bring new ideas and a broader coalition of partners to the table.”
India remains one of the world’s largest growth markets for renewables, with the government accelerating utility-scale solar and hybrid procurement to meet rising electricity demand and decarbonisation targets. However, developers have increasingly cited land acquisition, grid connectivity and access to affordable financing as key barriers to scaling projects.
Sjøntoft added, “India is one of the most important renewable energy markets globally. Partnering with BII allows us to build on our existing India investments and combine deep local insight with global investment expertise to accelerate project delivery and support the build‑out of renewable energy infrastructure at scale.”
BII pointed to its previous India renewables investment through Ayana Renewable Power, which it backed with US$100 million in 2018. The platform was sold last year at an enterprise value of US$2.3 billion after attracting additional private capital.
