Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) reaches €1.5 billion first close on Copenhagen Infrastructure IV (CI IV), which is set to become the world’s largest investment fund for renewable energy projects with a target of €5.5 billion.
The fund is expected to achieve capital commitments of €5-7 billion with strong appetite among institutional investors to invest €10-14 billion in greenfield renewable energy infrastructure across North America , Western Europe, Asia and Australia.
CI IV’s investment strategy will be a continuation of the successful CI I, CI II, and CI III and will continue to play a key role in the energy transition as a market leader in renewables and a pioneer CIP.
“We are very pleased to reach first close of CI IV with a mix of existing and new blue-chip institutional investors committing to the fund. We are honored by the continued investor confidence in CIP’s approach to energy infrastructure investments and look forward to continuing to create value for our investors, project owners, and local communities through the fund’s investments. The market timing is favorable for greenfield renewable infrastructure investments, and the fund and CIP are well positioned to capture the attractive market opportunity with significant visibility of the investment pipeline and a high degree of execution certainty delivered by a large team of experienced industrialists.”
Jakob Baruël Poulsen, managing partner in CIP.
The new fund achieved a first close of EUR 1.5 billion with capital contributions from a number of leading institutional investors, including the two Danish pension funds PensionDanmark and AP Pension, Norwegian KLP as well as pension and life companies and large family offices.
Several other influential institutional investors are participating in CI IV, including investors from the Nordics, Continental Europe, UK, Israel, North America , Asia and Australia among others.
The Fund will focus on investments in greenfields within core energy infrastructure. This has a global scope and will diversify investment through technologies such as offshore wind contracts, onshore wind, solar photovoltaics, transmission, storage, waste-to-energy and biomass assets in low-risk OECD countries in Western Europe , North America and Asia Pacific established.
The fund’s investments are expected to have a significant positive impact on the environment (including CO2 reduction) and to create high quality jobs in the assets’ local communities.
With the establishment of CI IV, CIP ‘s overall investment portfolio is expected to save the equivalent of about 10-11 million tons of CO2 annually and sustainably power about 5-6 million households around the globe.
“We are pleased and proud to manage and invest what is set to become the largest renewable energy infrastructure fund ever raised globally, and we are excited about delivering energy infrastructure projects of EUR 10-14 billion in close cooperation with our industrial partners and local communities. We take pride in creating value for our investors while enabling the energy transition to a modern low carbon energy system.”
Steen Lønberg Jørgensen, partner in CIP.
“Since CIP was established in 2012 with PensionDanmark as sole investor we have had a very satisfactory collaboration which we are delighted to continue in a so far unprecedented scale. We look forward to benefit once again from CIP’s profound knowledge in our joined effort to invest in renewable energy infrastructure. Our investment will generate great value for our members and at the same time make a substantial contribution in the struggle to achieve the climate goals on a global level.”
Torben Möger Pedersen, CEO at PensionDanmark.
“We are proud to be part of the world’s largest renewable energy infrastructure fund. With a EUR 335m investment we are taking a big step towards fulfilling our ambition to contribute to the green transition, benefiting both the climate and our customer’s pension savings. Being able to do so locally here in Denmark with CIP, who has an impressive history and unique expertise in this field, is just an added bonus.”
Bo Normann Rasmussen, CEO at AP Pension.
“This new investment is a part of our effort to find attractive investment opportunities that are characterized by stability and predictability for KLP’s customers. When fully deployed and when taken together with our other investments in other CIP funds it also represents a significant contribution to KLP’s ambition to facilitate sustainable investments in renewable energy infrastructure.“
Harald Koch-Hagen, SVP of risk management & allocation in KLP
Following first close of CI IV, CIP has seven funds under management with total commitments of around €9.5 billion. The new fund CI IV has a target fund size of €5.5 billion and final close is expected during the next 9 months.
