CIP Raises Over $13 Billion for Energy Transition Infrastructure Fund
Energy infrastructure investment manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) announced that it has raised more than €12 billion (USD$13.1 billion) at the final close of CI V, its fifth flagship fund, focused on investing in new energy transition projects in low-risk countries globally.
According to CIP Managing Partner Jakob Baruël Poulsen, the final close of the fund, which surpassed the firm’s fundraising target, comes as “massive structural tailwinds are pushing the energy transition forward,” with the firm highlighting in particular the significant amount of new power generation demand “driven by digitalization, AI and the rapid build-out of data centres,” in addition to the electrification of transportation and heating.
Poulsen added:
“At the same time, the fundamentals for renewables are as strong as ever as industrial competitiveness, productivity, and energy resilience are at the centre of political and industrial agendas globally.”
CIP said that the fund is on track to be committed within the next year. CI V has already made six final investment decisions committing 60% of the fund, with ownership of more than 50 development stage projects. According to CIP, the fund is estimated to add 30 GW of new energy capacity to the global grid, equivalent to the power needs of 10 million average homes.
CI V’s primary focus is on greenfield investments within large-scale renewable energy infrastructure in low-risk OECD countries situated in North America, Western Europe, and the Asia Pacific region, diversified across various technologies, including wind, solar PV and battery storage.
Mads Skovgaard-Andersen, Head of Flagship Funds and Partner at CIP, said:
“We believe that CI V is a highly relevant and important component in our investors’ portfolios as it offers portfolio stabilization and diversification with downside protection from contracted cash flows and exposure to inflation. The value creation in our funds is based on early entry at low cost and derisking and optimising the asset across the different project stages, which are generally less correlated to macroeconomic factors and economic cycles. Robustness is further enhanced through a high degree of optionality from our large project portfolio and diversification across technologies and markets.”