UK government-backed British International Investment (BII) and energy infrastructure investment manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP announced today the launch of North Star, a new platform focused on accelerating the development and of renewable energy projects in India.
The new platform will launch with commitments of $150 million from both BII and CIP, to invest in solar, wind, hybrid, and energy storage projects. The platform is anticipated to generate more than 4 million MWh of clean energy annually and avoid approximately 4 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year, according to BII and CIP.
India is targeting a more than threefold increase in renewable energy capacity by 2030, although BII said that achieving that goal will require closing an estimated $160 billion annual funding gap.
According to BII, although renewable energy tenders have expanded rapidly in India, many developers lack the development capacity and capital required to bring projects through to construction and operation. North Star is specifically designed to address these constraints and accelerate projects to scale, while attracting additional private capital.
Peter Jannik Sjøntoft, Partner in CIP’s Growth Markets Funds said:
“India is one of the most important renewable energy markets globally. Partnering with BII allows us to build on our existing India investments and combine deep local insight with global investment expertise to accelerate project delivery and support the build out of renewable energy infrastructure at scale.”
BII said that North Star is the first investment made through British Climate Partners (BCP), a £1.1 billion climate finance initiative launched by the organization last month, which it said is expected to mobilize £3.5 billion of private capital over the lifetime of its investments. BCP is designed to mobilize large scale institutional capital into climate solutions across fast-growing and coal-dependent economies in Asia, including India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and other South-East Asian countries.
CIP’s commitment is being made through its Growth Markets Fund II (GMF II). Launched in December 2023, GMF II focuses on the development of clean energy projects in high growth middle-income markets across Asia, Latin America and EMEA.
Leslie Maasdorp, the Chief Executive of British International Investment said:
“At the launch of our new strategy last month, we said that BII would focus on mobilising private capital to address acute development needs and combat the climate emergency. North Star is the first embodiment of that commitment.”
