Article
Private Equity in Clean Energy – The year’s most exciting transactions thus far
Published 21st April 2022
By David Stent, Digital Producer, Climate Council
The global renewable sector has matured it has seen many challenges, many great successes and has established a market that can compete with traditional avenues of energy production. Yet, the global energy crises defining the global economy, have created a moment for pause among many private equity investors as to whether or not renewables can provide the returns they were once used to with oil and gas. Despite such uncertainties, private equity investors committed to the energy transition have been sourcing projects that have potential to rapidly grow and assist in achieving the vision for a net-zero future.
Climeworks – Capturing carbon in the atmosphere and capital in markets
Climeworks, a leading carbon dioxide direct-air capture developer operating out of Switzerland, has attracted many of the world’s largest institutional investors together with several leading private equity firms in a CHF600 million ($650 million) deal. This coalition of capital clearly recognizes the capacity for Climeworks to effectively contribute to the energy transition while earning significant returns in the process.
According to Climework’s press release, “The financing is co-led by Partners Group (acting on behalf of its clients) and GIC, with further participation from (in alphabetical order) Baillie Gifford, Carbon Removal Partners, Global Founders Capital, John Doerr, M&G, Swiss Re, as well as other new and existing shareholders including long-term investor and anchor shareholder BigPoint Holding AG. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as sole placement agent for Climeworks in connection with the transaction.”
The deal is intriguing; firstly, due to the sheer size of capital committed to the company, but secondly and importantly, it recognizes the role that direct-air capture technologies must play if global society seeks to reduce the impacts to the atmosphere. Climework’s approach has been rapid but effective, in 12-years they have gone from start-up to owner of the world’s largest direct-air capture and storage plant in the world situated in Iceland.[2]
ChargePoint – Setting the foundations for the EV future
As EVs become more pervasive throughout society, as have the need for charging stations – a sector which ChargePoint has been growing steadily for the past decade to position themselves as one of North America’s most extensive EV charging networks. Now in a $300 million investment, through means of a purchase of senior notes, will underpin the California-based company’s expansion plans.
ChargePoint’s expansive network supports and operates with any station infrastructures, car type, driver payment preferences – all of which are connected to their support team. ChargePoint’s full-stack capability to support EVs across the US will act as a model for global markets, and makes it unsurprising why Antara Capital have committed a significant chunk of capital to the project.
ARC Clean Energy Canada – The next-phase in low-carbon nuclear power
One area of clean energy generation that continues to divide low-carbon advocates, is the use of a Small Modular Reactor (aSMR), to generate generous supply of electricity at a low-cost to greenhouse gas emissions. To support the continued research and development of a technology that holds immense potential to support a clean energy transition – has been the Series A funding of CAD$30 million toward ARC Clean Energy Canada.
Primarily supported by the Province of New Brunswick’s investment fund and a selection of private sector investors, the funding reflects the confidence in ARC’s capability to produce a 100-MW, modular reactor capable of supplying consistent, low cost, low carbon electricity to over 250,000 people.
New Brunswick Power, the publicly-owned operator of the provinces power grid, will oversee operations of the aSMR, effectively adding more than 6% to the provinces generation capacity and 15% to the province’s total generation capacity.
ClimeCo – Providing the projects for carbon abatements
ClimeCo is undoubtedly one of the more exciting and progressive companies on this list – seeking to be an early-entrant into the relatively new field of carbon abatements. By establishing a range of projects through which industrial partners can purchase carbon credits (or the regulatory equivalent), ClimeCo presents market solutions that aid the energy transition and net-zero future.
Having developed a, “diverse portfolio that includes carbon offsets, plastic credits, Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), Forecasted Mitigation Units (FMUs), criteria air pollutants, and water quality credits” – ClimeCo has positioned themselves to advise, develop and enact ESG objectives in an manner that directly mitigates carbon and GHG emissions impacts.
ClimeCo’s $50 million investment round was led by leading Private Equity investor Warburg Pincus, and joined by The Heritage Group, who had previously invested into ClimeCo’s project in 2021.
Climate VC – funding sustainable alternatives
While not technically private equity but rather an Angel-backed climate change VC fund – Climate VC, has announced its three newest investments, after launching last week. Offgrid.Finance, Treeconomy and Deep.Meta are the latest UK-founded start-ups being supported to achieve Climate VC’s aim of removing a gigatonne of CO2e from global emissions through investments in high-potential, high-impact, climate-focused businesses
Climate VC is a newly launched Angel-backed VC fund seeking to use their climate-focused investments to remove over a gigatonne of CO2 from the atmosphere. The first of these will be to support three companies: Offgrid.Finance, Treeconomy and Deep.Meta – each with unique solutions to solving the challenges presented by the energy transition. And while not technically private equity, the fund has announced their arrival into clean energy with some exciting investments.
First, Offgrid.Finance is looking to support SMEs who cannot afford to purchase their own clean energy supply with flexible financing to shift their needs away from energy insecurity. One on hand, the platform supports lenders by supplying a variety of options to consumers, and supports consumers by providing this variety of loan pipelines. As energy needs evolve, so do our financing needs – and Offgrid.Finance engages directly with just that.
Second, Treeconomy is a project developer of re-forestation carbon offsets. In essence, Treeconomy connects rural landowners with land for tree-planting with industrial companies in need of carbon offsets. This process is managed effectively through the use of digital technologies, such as LiDAR, to track and analyse the efficacy of particular woodland ecosystems.
Third, Deep.Meta is looking to revolutionise the carbon-intensive metallurgy sector by, “diagnosing and predicting metallurgical defects is just the first way we are ‘making metals simpler”. The company also tracks the manufacturing and installation of metals, so that one can track metals across the supply-chain but importantly, know if those metals can be reused and repurposed from decommissioned structures. In a future world of increasingly finite resources, the recycling and repurposing of materials will only become more prominent.
EMICOOL – Solving the constraints of air conditioning
Two giants in the investment and energy worlds have joined forces to develop the Emirates District Cooling Company (EMICOOL), a sustainable infrastructure project that distributes cooling capacity through a network of chilled water pipes, saving up to 35% more energy than traditional air conditioning units.
Actis has purchased a 50% stake in EMICOOL to enter into a JV with Dubai Investments, that will give the company a corporate valuation of $1 billion. Air conditioning has been highlighted as one of the most damaging processes to the climate, where in places such as Singapore, residential air conditioning is responsible for over 30% of GHG emissions.
For this reason, wherever smart cities are being considered, one will notice the attention given to centralized and energy efficient air cooling technologies. EMICOOL’s market position and experience in driving these solutions within the UAE, places the company in good stead to continue to make in-roads into the air cooling sector.
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A subsidy free renewable global industry is possible within 5 years
On the 23rd of July 2020, An expert panel discussed the possibility that falling technology costs have meant that the need for subsidies in the renewable energy industry has been questioned. However, whilst wind and solar are leading, many parts of the industry are not there yet. Would it be a mistake to assume, too early, that subsidies are no longer needed? read more
Taking green PPAs to the next level
We speak to Jason Tundermann, Vice-President of Business Development at LevelTen Energy, to learn about trends in the corporate renewable PPAs marketplace. read more
An unparalleled opportunity in unprecedented times
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says there is now a once-inalifetime opportunity to put clean energy investment at the heart of the world’s economic recovery from the virus. read more
What’s putting the brakes on EV adoption in South Africa?
We take a deeper look into why South Africa is lagging behind on global sales of electric vehicles (EVs). Read here read more
‘Greening’ existing infrastructure should be prioritised over investment into new clean energy projects
9 July 2020 - With global investment in new renewable energy capacity (excluding large hydro-electric projects) at $282.2 billion in 2019, it is clear that there is a growing appetite to invest into new clean energy projects. But is investing large sums into new projects putting the cart before the horse? read more
Banking on climate
We explore how banks and asset managers are providing debt and innovative capital products and how they are responding to very different circumstances than the ones laid out in their commitments published as recently as March. read more
ESG and Renewables post-Covid
The argument has been made that aligning corporate, and investment goals to the Paris Agreement is easier in a growth market than during a downturn. If so what does this current situation mean in practice for investors and corporates alike? read more
Tomorrow today? The reality of developing a global H2 economy
We delve into the economics of the hydrogen economy, exploring where we are and what is needed for hydrogen to be the saviour that so many claim it will be - this is what we discovered when we spoke to our members. read more
The Secret Sauce – Five Things Stopping Institutional Investors Deploying Greater Capital into Renewable Energy
If executives are going to successfully access some of the $2 trillion a year in clean energy infrastructure being allocated, knowing what these investors look for is important. Much is written about why they are investing, but we asked our membership what holds them back from deploying capital. read more
A Low-carbon, Circular Economy Future – UN Environment and EU Commission
At the Energy Capital Leaders Assembly in November 2019, Mark Radka, UN Environment and Paula Pinho, European Commission shared their insights into achieving a low-carbon future and their Sustainable Development Goals. Read more here read more
Capital Raising and Energy Opportunities in Mexico
Participants from the Capital Raising panel, that was due to take place at Mexico Assembly, met virtually to discuss the effects of COVID-19, what's keeping investors awake at night, how governments can help and more. read more
IOC Low-Carbon Tracker
Today we have the luxury of choosing between several direct and indirect viable energy sources. Renewables and gas are two of these, and of course historically coal has been the dominant force. The decisive question we always face is “what is the optimal energy mix”? read more
Climbing the Sun in Mexico
As I climbed the Pyramid of the Sun, I thought about how we honor the sun today, in our own high-tech way, by building massive photovoltaic arrays to capture the electricity that can be generated from the sun’s energy. read more
Why Should you Pay Attention to LeTID?
LeTID stands for “Light and elevated Temperature Induced Degradation”. The name is definitely awkward. But it’s worth getting familiar with because it significantly affects the performance of your solar modules and your solar power plant. read more
Newswire: Clean Energy in Latin America – November 2018
The top headlines from November2018 from the Latin America Clean Energy sector read more
Canadian Solar – A World Class Solar Power Solutions Company
Canadian Solar, founded in 2001 with a bold vision: to foster sustainable development and to make lives better by bringing electricity powered by the sun to millions of people worldwide. read more