European Clean Energy Fund closes at USD 441m

The European Clean Energy Fund has closed, raising EUR 329m (USD 441m) from institutional investors in Europe, Canada and the US.

The fund will provide mezzanine and equity capital to be invested in projects in the wind, solar, hydro, waste-to-energy and geothermal sector, mostly European, to generate carbon credits or other tradable renewable energy certificates.

Insurance company Swiss Re is the anchor investor and carbon advisor for the projects while the fund was placed in Europe by global investment manager Conning Research and Consulting. The fund manager is Trust Company of the West (TCW), a subsidiary of Societé Génerale.

The fund is also a UN accredited investment vehicle under the Energy Efficiency 21 Project. It can "therefore participate in special project financing initiatives and receive UN grant money for Kyoto Protocol and climate change related projects", the press statement said.

Jacques Aigrain, Swiss Re's CEO, said, "This Fund not only contributes to the progress of clean energy projects, it also aims to provide attractive returns to investors, while enhancing Swiss Re's expertise in the environmental markets business, both in investments and carbon market services.

By: New Energy Finance

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