CIP Closes EUR 7 Billion Renewable Energy Investment Fund

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) held a final close on its global greenfield renewables energy fund, Copenhagen Infrastructure IV (CI IV), one year after the start of fundraising.

The fund was oversubscribed and closed at the hard cap of EUR 7 billion having reached the target fund size of EUR 5.5 billion back in December 2020.

CI IV achieved commitments from investors across the Nordics, Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia with a 50/50 split between existing investors in CIP funds and new investors. The fund’s investor base comprises approximately 100 institutional investors, primarily pension funds, life insurance companies, and family offices.

”We are very pleased to welcome a prominent group of existing and new institutional investors to CI IV, and look forward to continuing to create value for our investors, project partners, and communities through the fund’s investments in greenfield renewable energy projects,” said Jakob Baruël Poulsen, Managing Partner at CIP.

”We are delighted that investors share our confidence in and appetite for greenfield renewables and have decided to invest alongside CIP in some of the largest clean energy projects across the globe within offshore wind, onshore wind, solar PV, transmission, and storage.”

With EUR 7 billion in commitments, CI IV is the largest dedicated greenfield renewable energy fund globally and is expected to invest in greenfield renewable energy infrastructure projects with total CAPEX in excess of EUR 14 billion.

The fund is said to be off to a strong start with final investment decisions on three investments during the first six months of the fund’s investment period and with ownership to more than 15 renewable energy projects with a potential investment amount exceeding the fund size. Approximately 1/3 of the fund has already been committed to investments and the fund is expected to become fully committed within 2-3 years.

The investment strategy of CI IV is a continuation of the predecessor funds CI I, CI II and CI III, and is tailored to institutional investors with a long-term investment horizon. CI IV will focus on greenfield investments within core energy infrastructure projects and investments are based on long-term contracted cash flows and robust investment structures including low energy price risk exposure and cautious use of financial leverage. The fund has a global reach and will diversify investments across technologies such as offshore wind, onshore wind, solar PV, transmission, storage, and waste-to-energy in low risk OECD countries in Western Europe, North America, developed Asia, and Australia.