Irish Government Commits €278 Million To Climate Investments

• ISIF has announced a commitment of €278 million for 3 ventures as climate investments 
• Greenfield renewable energy fund manager CIP's CI V fund has secured the largest chunk of €200 million 
• Impax New Energy Investors will invest the €50 million in new renewable energy build-out 
• ArcTern Ventures Fund III will deploy its €30 million ISIF commitment in supporting climate and sustainability startups 

Renewable energy developers, offshore wind energy and start-ups in energy transition have become the recipients of €278 million ($300 million) new climate investments committed by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). 

Among the beneficiaries of the ISIF investments in this round is the Copenhagen Infrastructure V (CI V), the flagship fund of Denmark's Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). It has secured €200 million ($216 million) of the total commitment. CIP, the world's 'largest' dedicated fund manager for greenfield renewable energy, is active in solar, energy storage and onshore and offshore wind energy technologies across various continents.

CIP raised €5.6 billion for the CI V fund in 2023 to invest in 20 GW new clean energy capacity in low-risk OECD countries in North America, Western Europe and Asia Pacific (see Strong Appetite For Renewable Energy). 

The Impax New Energy Investors IV Fund of Ireland has received €50 million ($54 million) ISIF commitment. It will focus on partnering with renewable energy developers and investing in the build-out of renewable energy assets with the Irish government proceeds. 

Thanks to its partnership with solar developer BNRG, Impax is active in this technology. With the ISIF investment, it will seek more opportunities in Irish development platforms, newbuild projects and new energy infrastructure. 

ISIF has committed another €30 million ($32 million) to the ArcTern Ventures Fund III that deploys capital into technology startups investing in climate and sustainability issues. Among its target sectors are electricity and energy, including distributed energy. 

ISIF, part of Ireland's National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), says these fresh commitments are part of its target to invest €1 billion in climate over 2021 to 2026. With the €278 million committed, it has now invested 63.6% or €636 million of the targeted value (see Europe PV Snippets: Statkraft, ISIF, VEH, ArcelorMittal). 

ISIF says it is now on course to meet its €1 billion climate investment target almost 2 years ahead of schedule.  

"The commitments we're announcing today show ISIF's appetite to invest across the spectrum of available Climate investments. We're heavy backers of wind and solar energy because Ireland needs more of this generating capacity to accelerate the economy's transition to Net Zero," said ISIF Director Nick Ashmore. 

Under its Climate Action Plan 2023, Ireland aims to grow its solar PV capacity to 5 GW by 2025 and to 8 GW by 2030. At the end of 2023, its cumulative solar PV capacity stood at 738 MW, according to the latest statistics released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) (see IRENA Releases Renewable Capacity Statistics 2024).