Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) reached its first close of €5.6bn ($6.1bn) of capital commitments received setting it on track to reach its target fund size of €12bn which would make it the world’s largest greenfield renewable energy fund.
CIP said that a large group of leading institutional investors across continental Europe, the Nordics, the UK, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region participated in the first close of its fifth flagship fund, named CI V.
The fund will focus on greenfield investments within large-scale renewable energy infrastructure. It has a global reach and intends to diversify investments across technologies such as contracted offshore wind, energy storage, onshore wind and solar in low-risk OECD countries in North America, Western Europe, and Asia Pacific.
CI V has the largest project pipeline of the previous four CIP funds. At first close, the fund has ownership of more than 40 renewable energy infrastructure projects with a total potential commitment of around EUR20bn, corresponding to more than 150% of the target fund size.
In June, the fund took its first final investment decision on a +400MW onshore wind project in the US, expected to start construction in the coming months. CIP also decided to invest $350m into offshore wind projects in South Korea.
Based on the current portfolio, CI V is targeting to add an estimated 20 GW of new clean energy capacity to the grid, enough to power more than 10m average households with renewable energy, which corresponds to an annual CO2 avoidance of 15m metric tons.
“Reaching nearly €6bn at first close is a testament to the importance of the fund, and the confidence placed in our industrial approach to energy infrastructure investments,” said Jakob Baruël Poulsen, managing partner at CIP.
“Our large investment pipeline and broad capabilities across all major renewable technologies and presence in all key markets enable us to select the best projects for the fund and to build a well-diversified portfolio,” Poulsen added.
