Danish Investor Closes €2 Billion Raise for Green Energy Funds

By Bloomberg

Oct 16, 2023

image is BloomburgMedia_S2GRPADWRGG101_16-10-2023_09-00-15_638330112000000000.jpg

Boats moored on a waterway near Amager Bakke, also known as Amager Slope or Copenhill, a combined heat and power waste-to-energy plant and recreational facility in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Friday, Sep. 15, 2023. The hulking, geometric wedge of silvery aluminum-and-glass paneling is one of the most technologically advanced waste-to-energy plants in the world. Photographer: Damian Lemański/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners closed two new funds at a combined €2 billion ($2.1 billion) to plow money into producing clean fuels and financing renewables projects.

CIP closed its Advanced Bioenergy Fund I and Green Credit Fund I in what’s been a record year for the Danish fund manager, it said in Monday. In July, it reached a €5.6 billion first close on its fifth flagship fund, which it’s seeking to more than double.

The funds’ close comes as clean-energy companies face pressure from high interest rates and supply chain bottlenecks around the world. Companies like renewables developer Orsted AS have plunged in value this year and renewable energy stocks have underperformed oil firms in recent years.

Still, trillions of dollars of more investment is needed as economies push to hit net-zero targets through thinks like clean electrification and green fuel. CIP’s launch of a private credit fund also follows a booming trend in the debt sector as investors offer loans to support deals and development projects — often at lower rates than banks can provide.

CIP’s bioenergy fund will focus on investments to produce fuels such as renewable natural gas made from food waste and agricultural leftovers. Its new credit fund has already committed €236 million of debt financing for renewable energy projects in Europe and North America.

By Todd Gillespie