Net Zero Investor 8/7 - 8/13 - Capital for Climate

Individual Deals and Market Watch

Mainstreaming of climate continues to accelerate with venerable private equity firm General Atlantic seeking to raise $4 billion for a growth equity fund focused on climate technologies, Axios has learned.
GA will seek to raise $3 billion from outside investors, with $1 billion to come from existing managed accounts.

India’s ACME Solar Holdings Pvt. is seeking partners to help fund a plan to more than triple its solar generation capacity.
The company, which in 2018 aborted a public listing because of stock market turbulence and uncertainty over the nation’s energy policy, plans to expand its solar capacity to 10 gigawatts over the next five years at a cost of 200 billion rupees ($2.7 billion), the company’s founder and chairman Manoj K. Upadhyay said in an interview.

Venture capitalist Chris Sacca is launching four climate tech funds targeting $800 million in total through his new firm Lowercarbon Capital LLC.

Acquiring the French company will bring in 2.3 GW of wind, 2.4 GW of solar PV and about 0.3 GW of energy storage assets to Hanwha’s own pipeline.

Danish pure-play renewables company Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) today reported a DKK-3.3-billion (USD 521m/EUR 444m) rise in first-half (H1) operating profit because of a significant gain from the sell down of an offshore wind asset. Specifically, the sale of a 50% stake in the 752-MW Borssele 1 & 2 offshore wind farm earlier in the year has led to a 34% year-on-year increase in Ørsted’s H1-2021 EBITDA to DKK 13.1 billion.

OCBC Bank has priced A$500 million (US$361 million) of senior floating-rate green notes due 2024 under its US$30 billion global medium-term note programme.

80 Acres Farms, an industry-leading vertical farming company, has secured $160 million in additional funding for its expansion and product development, led by General Atlantic and joined by Siemens Financial Services, Inc. [And see GA’s planned $4bn raise in lead]
With farms co-located near customers, 80 Acres’ produce travels significantly fewer food miles, shortening the farm-to-table carbon footprint and reducing overall food waste. 80 Acres Farms use 97% less water than traditional farming practices and are powered by renewable energy.

US long-duration energy storage systems developer Ambri Inc has secured USD 144 million (EUR 122.8m) in financing to commercialise its battery technology and build production facilities. First unit planned on line in 2023.
India-based Reliance’s renewables subsidiary joined the round as did Paulson & Co. Inc. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates and the Japan Energy Fund.

Danish renewables developer European Energy and institutional investor EIG Global Energy Partners (EIG) have closed a EUR-130-million (USD 153m) financing facility to support the construction of wind farms in Lithuania.

The plant-based protein producer offers alternative-meat sausages, ground beef and patties and plans to expand in Asia.
The powerful syndicate includes Astanor Ventures, Horizon Ventures, ABC World Ventures, Temasek, and Main Sequence.

Why not try something out of this world. The Space-based Solar Power Project has been underway since at least 2013. Donald Bren is the chairman of Irvine Company and on the Caltech board of trustees, and after hearing about the idea of space-based solar in Popular Science, he proposed to fund a research project at the university — and since then has given more than $100 million for the purpose. The source of the funds has been kept anonymous until this week.

Macro Commitments

The Biden administration is committing more than $3 billion in new funding for local governments to increase their resilience to climate change, the White House said.

Indian power-sector infrastructure trust (InvIT) India Grid Trust (BOM:540565) is willing to acquire operational solar projects worth up to INR 50 billion (USD 673.2/EUR 572.3m) as part of a strategy to diversify its asset base, the Financial Express has reported.

Adani Green Energy (AGEL) is set to raise about $600 million through overseas bonds to quicken the execution of renewable projects in the next two years, three people familiar with the matter told India-based ET.

The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has opened a call for proposals for solar and wind projects, looking to provide USD 200 million (EUR 171m) under a programme developed together with the Green Climate Fund.

The U.K. will invest £160 million to expand its offshore wind manufacturing sector in the Humber region in northern England.
The investments are being rolled out as part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's 10-point roadmap for the U.K.'s "green industrial revolution," which envisions a massive boost of Britain's offshore wind capacity and the creation of up to 250,000 green jobs.

Pathways, Frameworks, Case Studies, Research, Climate Science

The global textured vegetable protein market was valued at $987.9 million in 2019, and is projected to reach $2,139.6 million by 2027, registering a CAGR of 9.2% from 2021 to 2027.
Note from C4C: Research C4C has reviewed pegs the total alternative protein market at 11-14% of the global market by 2030.

Market data platform 1010data has revealed plant-based foods as its category of the year following a spotlight report on the 2020 online grocery sector. The research shows 199% annual growth in online sales of alt meat products and named MorningStar Farms as the top-performing brand.

The Emerging Markets Investors Alliance (EMIA) has released what it calls an “enhanced” set of principles for green, social, sustainable and sustainability-linked bonds, claiming that there has been a “loss of confidence” in the labelled-bond market.
Consultation with industry participants “confirmed that there is lack of credible and detailed guidance for the creation of labelled bonds”, which was exacerbated when bonds were issued by less-sophisticated emerging markets issuers, the Alliance said.

Net Zero Investor 8/7 - 8/13