NextEnergy Capital Group has investment commitments of $280m after closing a second round for its flagship private infrastructure fund that will invest in the construction of solar projects globally.
The backing comes from a pool of institutional investors including Finish pension fund Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company and UK charity fund manager CCLA.
The fund, dubbed NPIII, is the ESG one focused exclusively on the high-growth international solar energy infrastructure sector and is targeting a gross IRR of 13% – 15%.
The investment strategy is to invest in the construction phase of solar projects and own them over the long term or acquire operating solar projects. Principal target markets comprise OECD countries.
Since its first close in November 2018, the fund has acquired three projects with a total installed capacity of around 150MWp. All three projects are located in the USA.
NPIII has a portfolio of acquisition targets under exclusivity totalling seven projects for an installed capacity of 451MWp.
“The quality of institutional support for the fund underlines increasing investor interest and support for our climate change-focused investment strategy,” said NextEnergy Capital group boss Michael Bonte-Friedheim.
“In parallel to significantly growing the portfolio of solar projects owned by NPIII, we are looking forward to securing further investor support during the first half of 2020.”