Climate Investment Newsletter 7/18 - 8/10

Individual Deals and Market Watch

£3.6trn financiers join 'just transition challenge' [Environmental Finance]

• Financial institutions with over £3.6 trillion of assets have pledged to join the newly launched ‘Just Transition Finance Challenge’, launched by the Impact Investing Institute (III).

Octopus grows assets to £4.6bn with pensions renewables mandates [Environmental Finance]

• Over the 12-month period, Octopus Investments also increased its pool of global institutional investors by 50%.

Iberdrola secures €2.5bn green credit line [Business Green]

• Following agreement, more than 90 per cent of company's credit lines are now linked to its sustainability performance.

Warburg Pincus investment values Montana Renewables at USD 2.25bn [Renewables Now]

• Montana Renewables LLC (MRL) has become fully capitalised through a couple of new transactions, including a preferred equity investment that values the US renewable fuel business at about USD 2.25 billion (EUR 2.21bn).

PepsiCo issues $1.25bn green bond [edie]

• PepsiCo has issued a new $1.25bn green bond, with proceeds set to fund programmes scaling regenerative agriculture, reducing emissions and packaging waste and improving water stewardship.

Google and Chevron invest in nuclear fusion startup that’s raised $1.2 billion [CNBC]

• Google and Chevron were part of a $250 million funding raise announced Tuesday for TAE Technologies, a nuclear fusion startup with an unconventional strategy that has now raised a total of $1.2 billion.

Sensata Technologies completes acquisition of Dynapower for $580m [Business Wire]

• Dynapower provides energy storage and power conversion solutions including inverters, converters, rectifiers and custom transformers for renewable energy generation, green hydrogen production, electric vehicle charging stations, and microgrid applications, as well as industrial and defense applications. A broad product portfolio, strong track record in the field, and commitment to customers makes Dynapower a trusted global name in power conversion solutions.

Fifth Wall closes $500 million for its first climate fund [Yahoo]

• Fifth Wall, the largest venture capital firm focused on technology for the global real estate industry, announced the $500 million close of its inaugural Climate Fund. The fund aims to invest in software, hardware, renewable energy, energy storage, smart buildings, and carbon sequestration technologies to decarbonize the $10.5 trillion real estate industry.

Nest, GLIL invest £400m in UK offshore wind farm [Environmental Finance]

• £24 billion ($29 billion) UK pension fund Nest and £3.6 billion pension fund investment firm GLIL Infrastructure have invested £400 million to acquire a minority stake in the 1.2GW Hornsea One offshore windfarm in the UK.

OPG issues $300 million ‘green bond’ to help fund refurbishment of nuclear plant in Clarington [Insauga]

• While Ontario struggles to find clean energy replacements for the mothballed Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has issued a $300 million nuclear green bond, with the proceeds to help finance the refurbishment of the Darlington nuclear plant, one of the largest clean energy projects in Canadian history.

Enfinity Global closes $242 mn financing for 3 operational solar plants in Japan [Energetica]

• The power plants are contracted for 18 years under the FIT program. Nomura, a global financial institution, acted as initial lead arranger/sole bookrunner and Aozora Bank, one of the leading Japanese commercial banks, acted as lead arranger/agent.

Strong demand for OPG's maiden 'nuclear' green bond ($232mn) [Environmental Finance]

• Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has raised CAD300 million ($232 million) from its oversubscribed debut 'nuclear' green bond, after updating its framework to include the controversial clean energy source.

Stella McCartney and VC Firm Collaborative Fund launch $200 million climate solutions-focused fund [Business of Fashion]

• The fund, Collab SOS, will invest in companies working to develop more sustainable materials, ingredients, energy and supply chains at the Series A and B level. McCartney announced the initiative on her brand’s Instagram.

Climate tech investor Systemiq hits first close for $200m-targeting Fund II [Alt Assets]

• Global climate tech investor Systemiq Capital has hit a $70m first close for its sophomore fund, with eyes on $200m.

Nexeon raises over $200m to fund battery materials manufacturing [BusinessWire]

• Further to the announcement of its strategic partnership with and investment from SKC on 26 January 2022, Nexeon, a leading battery materials developer and manufacturer has completed the second close of its fundraise resulting in a total investment of US$170m. Additionally, a further US$50m of commercial investments is being made in Nexeon’s technologies as a consequence of the investment round.

Pegasus Capital Advisors raises $170 million for Global Fund for Coral Reefs [Impact Alpha]

• Impact investor Pegasus is aiming to raise $625 million in blended financing to protect critically-threatened coral reefs and vulnerable coastal communities. The fund “intends to demonstrate, for the first time, impact investment at a sufficient scale to make a sizable dent in the problem,” says Deliberate Capital’s Dale Galvin, who has been appointed to lead the fund.

Meati Foods raises $150m in Series C round backed by Chipotle Mexican Grill [Vegconomist]

• Meati Foods, the creator of Eat Meati whole-cut meat alternatives, has raised $150M in Series C funding to expand the production and accessibility of the brand’s whole-food, mushroom root proteins.

Powin raises $135M funding from Singapore’s GIC, Trilantic North America and Energy Impact Partners [Tech Crunch]

• Powin, an energy storage technology developer, said it has raised $135 million in funding led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, with participation from existing investors Trilantic Energy Partners North America and Energy Impact Partners (EIP).

Vektor Partners raises new €125M fund to look specifically at sustainable mobility [Tech Crunch]

• Some estimates put the future mobility market at $178.7 billion by 2026, up from $78.1 billion two years ago. And there has been $400 billion worth of investments made into the sector over the past decade, with  $100 billion invested since 2020.

Greensphere invests up to £100m in Kew Gardens [Environmental Finance]

• UK asset manager Greensphere Capital has said it will invest up to £100 million ($121 million) to commercialise the nature-based solution research of Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London.

Temasek increases internal carbon price to US$50 per tonne of emissions amid net-zero push [Business Times]

• TEMASEK will be increasing its internal carbon price from US$42 per tonne of carbon dioxide to US$50 this year to inform its investment decisions, with plans to raise it to US$100 per tonne by the end of this decade.

Macro Commitments

France to pay nearly €10bn to fully nationalise EDF [The Guardian]

• The French government is poised to pay nearly €10bn (£8.5bn) to fully nationalise EDF as ministers attempt to tackle the European energy crisis. The French finance ministry said it had offered €9.7bn or €12 a share to buy the 16% of debt-laden EDF it does not already own.

The Hydrogen Stream: $8 billion green hydrogen facility near the Suez Canal [PV Magazine]

• Egyptian authorities and Indian energy company Renew Power signed a memorandum of understanding to establish an $8 billion green hydrogen facility near the Suez Canal. The first phase of the development plan, valued at $710 million, will cover 600,000 square meters. The facility is to produce 20,000 tons of green hydrogen and 100,000 tons of green ammonia by 2025.

Vietnam's VinFast to raise $4B for US manufacturing facility via banks [TechNode Global]

• Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast said it has signed international financing agreements with Credit Suisse and Citigroup in order to raise $4 billion capital for the development of its planned manufacturing facility in North Carolina and its business activities in the United States (U.S.) market.

MAS launches $2.4b inaugural sovereign green bond, 50-year debt priced at 3.04% [Straits Times]

• Singapore’s central bank looks to raise $2.4 billion with its first sovereign green bond issuance, according to a notice issued on its website on Thursday (Aug 4).

Intel announces $1.25 billion green bond issuance [Tech Circle]

• Chip major Intel has announced the pricing of its inaugural green bond issuance, totalling $1.25 billion. The issuance of green bonds, which are fixed-income financial instruments used to finance projects that have positive environmental and climate benefits.

alfanar’s £1 billion Teesside SAF plant enters FEED engineering phase [Biofuels International]

• Alfanar has outlined its vision for a series of multi-billion-pound green investments in the UK. The first of these investments, the planned £1 billion (€1.15 billion) Lighthouse Green Fuels waste-to-SAF plant, entered the FEED phase in June after alfanar awarded the contract to Worley.

The EBRD's investment in green bonds passes €1bn [Environmental Finance]

• With its €65 million ($67 million) investment in a green covered bond from PKO Bank Hipoteczny (PKO BH) this month, the EBRD has now invested more than €1 billion in green bonds.

Innergex to refinance Chilean assets with USD 710m of green bonds [Renewables Now]

• Canada’s Innergex Renewable Energy Inc (TSE:INE) has issued USD 710 million (EUR 696.4m) worth of green bonds to refinance debt tied to a portfolio of renewable energy assets in Chile, including 322 MW of wind farms acquired recently from Aela.

IDB and Green Climate Fund lead $450 million fund for e-mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean [Impact Alpha]

• IDB is joining forces with the U.N.’s Green Climate Fund and nine Latin American and Caribbean countries to advance low-carbon transportation and strengthen the resilience of urban transport infrastructure. The fund will provide concessional loans and grants to Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay.

New aerospace innovation to propel UK to growth and greener skies backed by £273 million [Climate Action]

• Solar powered aircraft, ultra-efficient wings and medical treatment carrying drones are just some of the technologies backed by £273 million to advance low-carbon aerospace innovation, economic growth and jobs, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will announce at the Farnborough International Airshow.

Viessmann to open €200m heat pump facility in Poland [Energy Monitor]

• The Viessmann Group, a German manufacturer of heating and refrigeration systems, is building a €200m heat pump production site in Legnica, Poland. The investment comes as part of a planned record €1bn investment in the expansion of heat pumps and other “green climate solutions” over the next three years, announced by the family owned company in spring.

EC OKs Romania's 149 mln euro scheme to back renewable hydrogen production [Renewables Now]

• The European Commission (EC) said it has approved a 149 million euro ($152 million) Romanian funding scheme made available through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to support the production of renewable hydrogen.

Green Generation Fund raises €100 million for food- and green-tech ventures [Impact Alpha]

• The women-led fund based in Berlin is looking to invest in up to 30 early-stage companies in the U.S. and Europe.

More than 100 mln sovereign forest credits set to reach VCM by autumn [Carbon Pulse]

Pathways, Frameworks, Case Studies, Research, Climate Science

The Alternative Protein Market would exceed $193.75 billion by 2028, says Global Market Insights Inc. [Cision]

• According to the report published by Global Market Insights Inc., the global Alternative Protein Market was estimated at USD 60.45 billion in 2021 and is expected to surpass a valuation of $193.75 billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of 18.5% from 2022 to 2028. The report provides a detailed analysis of the top winning strategies, drivers & opportunities, competitive scenario, wavering market trends, market size & estimations, and major investment pockets.

How Southeast Asia can simultaneously protect nature and generate $2 trillion a year [World Economic Forum]

• Investing in measures to protect the biodiversity of Southeast Asia’s forests and seas could produce benefits valued at more than $2.19 trillion a year - while slowing down climate change - according to a new study published by the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM).

Japan steelmakers lay out road map for a hydrogen-electric future [Nikkei Asia]

• Leading Japanese steelmakers have unveiled a detailed timeline through fiscal 2030 for developing technology that can make high-quality steel using hydrogen and electric furnaces that do not emit massive amounts of carbon. Decarbonizing Japan's steelmaking is expected to cost 10 trillion yen ($72 billion).

Climate funding abides in $19B 2022 midyear update [Climate Tech VC]

• As overall funding declines, climate tech investment returns to pre-boom time levels with a good amount of dry powder left to go. Of note, venture funding announcements are lagging indicators of real-time market shifts. We’ll continue to keep a finger on the pulse on the coming months, and whether the new spate of climate dry powder is enough to weather the macro funding fallout.

Aviation net zero goal needs annual investment of $175 bln, role required for CDR -report [Carbon Pulse]

US govt launches USD-675m critical materials research programme [Renewables Now]

• The US Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Request for Information (RFI) in relation to a USD-675-million (EUR 659.6m) programme for the research, development, demonstration and commercialisation of critical materials used in clean energy technologies.

Carbon dioxide market size worth USD 13.65 billion by 2028 | With 3.6% CAGR 2021-2028 [GlobeNewsWire]

• According to Fortune Business Insights, the carbon dioxide market is projected to reach USD 13.65 billion in 2026 from USD 10.69 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 3.6% during the 2021-2028 period; Growing Applications in Food and Beverage and Medical Industries to Boost Market Expansion

Climate tech market to surpass US$ 16.9 bn by 2022 amid urgent need to reduce power consumption in industries | Future Market Insights, Inc. [GlobeNewsWire]

• Construction Companies Are Prioritizing Climate Change Technology to Develop Green Buildings, the green building segment is expected to showcase a CAGR of around 17.3% in the forecast period. The blockchain segment is likely to grow at a rapid pace by exhibiting a CAGR of around 23.9% between 2022 and 2032

Green bonds total US$417.8 billion in H1 2022 [The Asset]

• Green, social, sustainability, sustainability-linked and transition (GSS+) labelled debt reached a combined volume of US$417.8 billion in the first half of 2022 (H1 2022), representing a year-on-year (y-o-y) decrease of 27% against H1 2021, according to a recent report. However, signs of a revival emerged as green issuance picked up in Q2, increasing by 25% on Q1 with a volume of US$121.3 billion.

Global renewables investment hits new H1 record of USD 226bn - BNEF [Renewables Now]

• Global renewable energy investment has reached a new six-month record of USD 226 billion (EUR 221bn) in January-June 2022, reflecting a stronger-than-ever investor appetite in clean energy, shows a new report by BloombergNEF (BNEF).

Oat milk sales rise 50% as plant-based milk growth surpasses $2.3 billion [Green Queen]

Voluntary carbon market value approaches $2 bln in 2021 [Carbon Pulse]

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