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Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners has reached final close for its two new funds, CI Advanced Bioenergy Fund I (CI ABF I) and CI Green Credit Fund I (CI GCF I) with total LP commitments of EUR ~2bn. 2023 has been a record year for CIP, as in addition to this final close announcement, CIP also held first close for its flagship fund, CI V, at EUR 5.6bn.
With commitments from investors across the Nordics, Europe, and Asia Pacific, CI GCF I closed at EUR ~1bn with an additional EUR ~200m in co-investments to date. ABF I closed at EUR 750m. The funds’ investor bases are comprised of institutional investors, primarily pension funds, life insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, asset managers, and corporate investors.
The two funds make up integral parts of CIP’s distinct greenfield renewable energy infrastructure focused fund strategies. The Advanced Bioenergy Fund I is expected to contribute substantially to producing clean fuels such as renewable natural gas from food waste, agricultural residues and other organic waste streams, displacing carbon-emitting fuels and mitigating negative environmental impacts from these waste streams. The Green Credit Fund provides debt financing with subordinated risk characteristics for renewable energy projects globally, contributing to decarbonizing the power market.
CI GCF I focuses on providing private project finance debt with subordinated risk characteristics supporting renewable energy projects in Europe, North America, and selective jurisdictions in the Asia Pacific region. The project focus is on green- and brownfield projects in renewable energy infrastructure. The fund’s main focus will be on direct investments, but it also has the ability to participate in risk-sharing transactions.
“Reaching this milestone together with a strong group of global LPs allows us to continue identifying new investment opportunities, and work with strong developers on executing the renewable energy build-out. We believe private credit in the renewable energy space is a natural addition to the strong CIP fund portfolio, and it offers our LPs a new and attractive way to deploy capital into the energy transition while leveraging CIP’s strong skills and heritage,” says Jakob Groot, partner and co-head of CIP’s credit platform with partner Nicholas Blach-Petersen.
Related Article: Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners Secures $6 Billion from First Close of Renewable Energy Fund
As of October 13, 2023, CI GCF I has already closed three investments and committed a total of EUR 236m. The fund has a portfolio of renewable energy infrastructure opportunities across a range of European countries as well as North America, and it continues to see a strong demand for this type of debt capital.
The Advanced Bioenergy Fund I focuses on investments in advanced bioenergy infrastructure, in particular in Europe. It enables institutional investors to contribute to the energy transition and participate in the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors through the production of advanced biofuels and biogas – while delivering cost-efficient and circular solutions for environmental and organic waste challenges. Investments will be dark green (as defined in the EU regulation Article 9) based on sustainable feedstock such as waste wood, agricultural biowaste, household biowaste and industrial biowaste. The offtake products include green gas and green fuels, such as renewable natural gas (RNG), liquified natural gas (bio-LNG), and second generation bioethanol.
“We are pleased to welcome the new investors in CI ABF I and are delighted that investors generally share our confidence in the market for advanced bioenergy projects. There is a very strong market demand for green gas and green fuels and circular solutions which is provided by CI ABF I’s investment strategy and underpinned by robust regulatory drivers both in the EU and the US. We have a strong pipeline of projects in these markets that we look forward to progressing even further,” says Thomas Dalsgaard, partner in the Advanced Bioenergy Fund.
On one project, CI ABF I has already taken final investment decision to begin construction, and exclusivity has been secured on several industrial-scale advanced bioenergy projects. The projects are located in Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain and are expected to produce Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) and biogenic CO2 from food waste, industrial waste and agricultural waste.