Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has reached final close on its new fund, CI Energy Transition Fund I (CI ETF I). The fund was oversubscribed and closed at the hard cap of EUR 3 billion. This makes CI ETF I the largest dedicated clean hydrogen fund globally.
CI ETF I achieved commitments from investors across the Nordics (~25% of commitments), Europe (~45%), Asia-Pacific (~20%) and North America (~10%) with approximately a 50/50 split between existing investors in CIP funds and new investors. The fund’s investor base comprises approximately 65 institutional investors, primarily pension funds, life insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers, and family offices.
“We are very pleased to welcome a prominent group of existing and new institutional investors to CI ETF I and are delighted that investors share our confidence in and appetite for clean energy infrastructure projects and invest alongside CIP in the next phase of the energy transition. Solutions such as Power-to-X will be key for countries and industries to take the next big leap within reaching the commitments of the Paris agreement and achieving energy independence. As an industry pioneer and one of the global market leaders in greenfield renewable infrastructure investments, CIP is uniquely positioned to invest in this segment,” says Jakob Baruël Poulsen, Managing Partner in CIP.
CI ETF I will invest in next generation renewable energy infrastructure including industrial scale Power-to-X (PtX) projects and enables institutional investors to participate in the decarbonization of the so-called hard to abate industries and support the further integration of renewable power generation in the energy mix through grid balancing. The fund will primarily focus on greenfield projects in the OECD and aims to contribute to the decarbonization of industries such as agriculture, aviation, shipping, chemical manufacturing, and steel production through the use of green fuels and feedstock and CO2-free fertilizers.
CI ETF I make up an integral part of CIP’s distinct fund strategies that tap into the main renewable energy transition trends. The fund will apply the same and proven value creation and de-risking approach as CIP’s existing funds, though with a focus for CI ETF on PtX. CI ETF I will apply CIP’s industrial skills to optimize and de-risk its projects through among others project design, partner selection, and contracting. Once de-risked the projects are expected to have core infrastructure characteristics including long term offtake contracts.
CI ETF I is off to a strong start with FID taken on one investment and ownership on several attractive industrial scale development stage PtX projects with diverse exposure to production technologies and offtake markets. The projects which among others are in Western Europe (Denmark, Norway, Spain, Portugal), South America (Chile), and Australia are expected to produce green hydrogen, green ammonia, and sustainable aviation fuel based on GW scale renewable energy production and electrolysis capacity.
CI ETF I’s current portfolio once operational is estimated to reduce more than 7.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually (or the equivalent to removing ~1.6 million cars from the roads permanently) and deliver more than 4 millon tonnes of green fuels each year.
For the marketing of CI ETF I, law firms Plesner and Clifford Chance acted as legal counsel, KPMG Acor Tax as tax advisor, and Selinus Capital Advisors, Compagnie Financière Jacques Coeur (CFJC) and Allen Partners as placement agents.
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