The State-owned Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) has announced that it is launching a new private markets fund that will invest in energy transition infrastructure assets across Europe, with a particular focus on Ireland.
ISIF is partnering on the fund with Schroders Greencoat, a specialist renewables and energy transition infrastructure manager within global asset manager Schroders Capital.
The fund will be seeking to invest “in a number of projects” of Ireland, it said, with a focus on greenfield new-build projects. ISIF has committed €100 million as a cornerstone investor in the fund, which has launched with more than €220 million in initial capital.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe welcomed the move.
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“The €100 million commitment to the fund announced today demonstrates ISIF’s commitment both to tackling climate change and to supporting the transition to Net Zero in Ireland while delivering on its double bottom-line mandate to create jobs and growth,” he said.
The announcement expands on an existing relationship between ISIF and Schroders Greencoat, with ISIF becoming an anchor investor in the initial public offering (IPO) of Greencoat Renewables plc in 2017.
The new fund will aim to build a diversified portfolio of energy transition investments across Europe, while investments in Ireland will be focused on the growth of renewable energy infrastructure capabilities, grid infrastructure, interconnection with Europe and the UK, and battery storage.
The balance of capital raised for the fund has come from funds managed by Schroders Greencoat, as well as from the European insurance sector and a Japanese utility.
Schroders Greencoat has extensive experience in investing in European energy infrastructure assets, having completed 35 transactions involving 46 energy transition assets with a total enterprise value of more than €3 billion. Of this, €1.5 billion has been invested across Irish wind, solar and battery storage assets.
“This investment is another strong example of ISIF’s double bottom line mandate, to invest on a commercial basis in a manner that’s designed to support economic activity and employment in Ireland,” said ISIF senior investment director Paul Saunders.
Schroders Greencoat partner Paul O’Donnell said: “These commitments underline the strong market demand for exposure to the energy transition, despite the challenging market backdrop for infrastructure fundraising.”
Mr O’Donnell added that it was “a fascinating time” to be investing in the sector.
“We believe the fund will act as a catalyst for the deployment of both domestic and international capital into Ireland and our other focus countries to support the delivery of a pipeline of assets that support the transition to Net Zero.”
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