Danish renewables investment manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has closed €5.6 billion (US$6.1 billion) in capital commitments in the first round of its latest renewables fund.
The Copenhagen Infrastructure V (CI V) fund saw capital commitments from investors across Europe, the Nordics, the US, the UK and Asia-Pacific countries and currently has portfolio ownership of more than 40 renewable energy infrastructure projects.
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At final close, CIP said that the CI V fund is ultimately targeting €12 billion and an estimated 20GW of new renewable energy capacity, which would make it the largest private greenfield renewables infrastructure fund in the world.
The fund accepts projects which can be entered early in the development process, de-risked and optimised and yet to start construction. It is seeking solar, storage and onshore and offshore wind projects to be deployed in low-risk Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in North America, Western Europe and Asia-Pacific.
“We believe the market timing for investment of CI V is favourable,” said Jakob Baruël Poulsen, managing partner at CIP. “The strong and accelerating demand for new renewable infrastructure to secure energy independence and deliver on ambitious climate pledges creates many new investment opportunities.
He continued: “Reaching nearly €6 billion at first close is a testament to the importance of the fund, and the confidence placed in our industrial approach to energy infrastructure investments. With its greenfield focus and large and diversified portfolio, CI V has the potential to significantly contribute to, and accelerate the energy transition on a global scale, while generating strong returns for our investors.”
NextEnergy Capital, another renewables fund manager, closed the first round of its NPV ESG investment fund earlier this month, raking in US$480 million commitments out of the target US$1.5 billion.
In the first quarter of this year worldwide corporate investment into solar PV was up 55% on the previous three months, according to Mercom Capital Group.
In May, CIP launched a new renewables platform aimed at originating, developing and implementing solar, storage and wind projects in Germany. March saw the fund manager buy South African IPP Mulilo, along with its 25GW pipeline.