Investment fund secures $112 million for renewable energy projects
Karaha project site, December 2015 (source: Hawkins)
Alexander Richter
14 Apr 2016
A new renewable energy investment fund by Berkeley Energy has raised a first $112 million funding round backed by several large investors. The fund is expected to invest - among others geothermal projects in the Philippines and Indonesia.
Berkeley Energy, an investment management firm founded in 2007 to invest private equity into renewable energy infrastructure in developing markets, has successfully reached a first close of its Renewable Energy Asia Fund II with $112m of committed capital for its 10 year closed end fund.
Berkeley Energy manages a global emerging markets renewable energy portfolio of excess of 20 projects with 5 projects and more than 200MW now operating, and a further 4 projects in construction with the remainder in development. Berkeley Energy invests mainly in development stage projects, typically in wind, small hydro and geothermal but also in solar and biomass.
With its Africa Renewable Energy Fund, the company is involved in the Corbetti geothermal project in Ethiopia.
The Renewable Energy Asia Fund (REAF) invests into small hydro, wind, geothermal, solar, landfill gas and biomass projects in Asian developing markets, with a primary focus to date in India and the Philippines.
Investors in the first close included the Netherlands Development Finance Corporation (FMO), the International Finance Company (IFC) and the IFC Catalyst Fund, a private equity fund managed by the IFC Asset Management Company (AMC) (who together contributed $60m), the European Investment Bank (EIB) managed Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF) and Oikocredit.
FMO and GEEREF have also invested in all of Berkeley Energy’s other renewable energy funds to date; the $110m Renewable Energy Asia Fund (REAF) in 2009 which is fully deployed into 7 projects and the $200m Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF), the first dedicated renewable energy fund for Sub-Saharan Africa, which had a final close last year at its hard cap and is headquartered in Nairobi and has so far invested in a further 9 projects. FMO also provided an innovative warehousing facility to Berkeley Energy prior to the first close of REAF II enabling it to begin investing the fund early.
REAF II will shortly be completing a second close with a further group of investors to take the fund to c.$150m before targeting its final close at $250m later in the year. The new fund will invest in emerging markets in Asia, where Berkeley Energy has been active since its founding in 2007, with a principal focus on the Philippines, India and Indonesia.
It is great to see another large fund making funding available for – among others – geothermal development in the Philippines and Indonesia.
Source: EIB, Berkeley Energy
