Net Zero Investor 7/10 - 7/16

We’re Hiring Head of Climate Funds Research and Evaluation

• Build and maintain the definitive digital resource on funds, vehicles, large projects, prizes and incubators that are investing (or driving investment) in climate solutions aligned to science-based roadmaps to net zero.

Individual Deals and Market Watch

Altus Power to list on NYSE in USD-1.58bn merger deal [Renewables Now]

• Altus Power Inc is the latest clean energy company to secure a listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) by agreeing to merge with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by real estate and PE giant CBRE.
• Altus specializes in executing small to mid-sized grid-integrated solar projects, was backed by Blackstone credit with $850 of credit in Jan 2020.

UPDATE - Xinjiang Daqo to raise nearly $US1bn in Shanghai IPO [Renewables Now]

• Xinjiang Daqo New Energy, the major operational subsidiary of polysilicon maker Daqo New Energy Corp (NYSE:DQ), is expected to raise about CNY 6.45 billion (USD 995m/EUR 839m) from its initial public offering (IPO) this month.
• Daqo New Energy Corp. is a Chinese company engaged in the manufacture of monocrystalline silicon (mono-Si) and polysilicon (poly-Si), primarily for use in solar photovoltaic systems. [Website]

KfW Development Bank participates in USD 500 million climate fund for developing countries [KFW]

• This Blackrock managed fund conceived in 2018 wends its way to formation with some private commitments from Japanese FIs and a European Pension.
• The newly launched Climate Finance Partnership Fund (CFPF), in which KfW is a partner, has mobilized USD 250 million for climate-friendly investments in developing and emerging countries. The fund aims to raise a total of USD 500 million for energy projects in Asia, Central and South America and Africa by summer 2022.

Greece’s Public Power Corp raises 500 mln euros from sustainability-linked bond [Reuters]

• Public Power Corp. (PPC), Greece's biggest power utility, has raised 500 million euros ($591.15 million) from a 7-year sustainability-linked bond, it said on Wednesday (July 14th).
• The note was priced to yield 3.375% and proceeds will be used by PPC to pay part of its outstanding debt, it said.

Leeward Renewable Energy secures USD 475m of fresh capital [Renewables Now]

• Canadian pension Omer’s Leeward Renewable Energy LLC has raised USD 375 million (EUR 317m) green bond (4.25%/2029) and, at the same time, closed a USD-100-million revolving credit line administered by Wells Fargo.

Thailand’s PTT spends USD 454m on minority stake in India's Avaada [Renewables Now]

• We don’t see much M&A activity in India solar from Southern Asian region but Global Power Synergy PCL (BKK:GPSC), the power business of Thai state-run PTT Group, has finalised the purchase of a 41.6% stake in Indian solar project developer Avaada Energy Pvt Ltd.  Avaada has 1392 MW of solar in operation, and 2352MW of solar in development.

Lar España issues €400m green bond [Quoted Data]

• Lar España, which owns a portfolio of shopping centres in Spain, has successfully closed an issue of €400m of senior unsecured green bonds.
• The issue was four times oversubscribed and the bonds have a fixed annual coupon of 1.750% and mature at the end of 2026

Greenvolt prices IPO at lower end of range, to raise up to EUR 150m [Renewables Now]

• Small Portuguese biomass operator Greenvolt – Energias Renovaveis SA (85MW across five plants) has priced its IPO on Euronext Lisbon with Barclays at EUR 4.25 (USD 5.03) per share and is looking to raise up to EUR 150 million.
• It’s a complicated deal with Greenvolts at the same time buying part of a polish wind and solar developer.

Spain's Capital Energy secures EUR-140m corporate loan [Renewables Now]

• Spanish renewable power retailer and project developer Capital Energy said Friday it had closed an agreement for a EUR-140-million (USD 165.9m) corporate loan with Madrid-based specialty credit investment advisory firm Incus Capital Advisors SA and Canada’s Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP).
• Must be more to do down the road as OTPP doesn’t usually do deals under $200M.  For instance in May OTPP bought 100% of a seven line transmission roll-up that TPG had built up since 2018.  

Verkor raises €100M in mainly industrial consortium funding [Finsmes]

• Not competing with a Northvolt-like gigafactory yet, Verkor, a Grenoble, France–based battery cell producer, raised €100m in funding.  
• The round was co-led by famously smart EQT Ventures and Renault Group, with participation from the French Government and Auvergne- Rhône-Alpes Region, EIT InnoEnergy, Groupe IDEC, Schneider Electric, Capgemini, Arkema, Tokai COBEX and the Fund for Ecologic Modernisation of Transport (FMET) managed by Demeter.

Macro Commitments

InterContinental-led group plans USD-70bn green H2 and fuels project in WA [Renewables Now]

• Australian green H2 projects for regional export keep getting more gihugic and are startling to look in scale like US Gulf Coast LNG export facilities of a few years back.  A group consisting of InterContinental Energy, CWP Global (renewables developer strong in Eastern Europe) and Mirning Green Energy Ltd announced on July 13th that they plan to build in phases an integrated green fuels mega project in Western Australia featuring up to 50 GW of wind and solar power capacity.
• The Western Green Energy Hub (WGEH) is designed to be able to produce up to 3.5 million tonnes of green hydrogen or 20 million tonnes of green ammonia each year.

LG to invest $5.2bn in production of electric vehicle battery materials [FT]

• South Korea’s LG plans to invest $5.2bn in an attempt to go upstream to start producing the chemicals and materials used in electric vehicle batteries as the global lithium ion battery industry leader urgently tries to cut its dependence on China.

ArcelorMittal, Spanish govt unveil EUR-1bn plan for greener steel [Renewables Now]

• Here come the first low carbon steel making plants targeting the [8%] of global CO2 emissions that derive from steel production.  
• Leading global Steelmaker ArcelorMittal SA (AMS:MT) and the Spanish government on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will underpin a EUR-1-billion plan (USD 1.18bn) to bring down emissions at a steel plant in Spain.
• C4C Note: They plan to build a 2.3-million-tonne green hydrogen direct reduced iron (DRI) unit and a 1.1-million-tone hybrid electric arc furnace (EAF). This will be done using green hydrogen sourced from H2 project developers as the reductant of iron ore in the direct reduction of iron process, and power the EAF with renewable energy.

Pathways, Frameworks, Case Studies, Research, Climate Science

Dedicated sustainable assets headed for $13 trillion by 2025 – Casey Quirk [Pensions & Investments]

• Dedicated sustainable investing assets could reach $13 trillion globally by 2025, according to a paper released Thursday, July 15th, by asset management consultant Casey Quirk, a practice of Deloitte Consulting. Europe has the largest share.
• They are defining sustainable investment as a subset of ESG focused on a positive tils to sustainability including alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals and impact investments.  

Global sustainable debt issuance will crack $1 trillion mark in 2021 [Reuters]

• Global issuance of sustainable debt is on track to surpass $1 trillion this year with green bonds dominating while emerging markets -- at 15% of share -- have some catching up to do, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said in a report.
• Climate Bonds Initiative and Bloomberg both track the market in detail.  

Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) launched at G20 Climate Summit [Reinsurance News]

• Eight of the world’s largest insurance and reinsurance companies have launched the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) at the G20 Climate Summit in Venice yesterday, committing to transition their underwriting portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

Guest post: Mapping ‘blue-carbon wealth’ around the world [Carbon Brief]

• In a new study, published in Nature Climate Change, scientists map the “blue carbon” uptake from marine and coastal ecosystems around the world to highlight how natural sinks and climate change redistribute wealth around the globe.
• Top countries in order of their absorptive potential between ~9/gt-5gt/year were Australia, U.S., Indonesia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Their findings show that Australia, Indonesia and Cuba contribute the largest blue-carbon net “wealth” to the rest of the world. However, only a handful of countries have enough blue carbon potential to offset their entire carbon footprint.
• Key graphic below