Investments 2024

2024 marked the second full year of operations for the Climate Investment Fund. During the year, four new investments were made. In addition, five follow-on investments supporting the growth of existing Climate Investment Fund portfolio companies were also made. In total, new commitments of NOK 1.7 billion were made, taking the total Climate Investment Fund portfolio to NOK 5.6 billion. The investments made in 2024 are expected to contribute to avoid 2.9 million tons of CO2e emissions when the projects are operational. 

Highlights of 2024

EnerGrid

A new IEA report warns that up to 15% of global solar and wind power production may remain unused by 2030 without increased investment in grids and storage. India is among the countries where the need for such investments is particularly pressing. According to recent estimates from India’s Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the country will require 170,000 kilometers of transmission lines and 47 GW of energy storage capacity (BESS) over the next eight years to integrate increased renewable energy production. 

To address this challenge, The Climate Investment Fund together with BII and  IndiGrid, an Indian Infrastructure Investment Trust (“InvIT”) that is one of the largest owner and operator of transmission projects in India, have set up a new platform, EnerGrid,  which will develop power grid and battery storage projects. The partners are committing up to USD 300 million of equity investments which is expected to enable EnerGrid to develop projects valued at approximately USD 1.2 billion over the coming years. Of this the Climate Investment Fund is contributing USD 50 million and mobilizing a further USD 50 million from KLP via the jointly owned investment vehicle KNI India AS. The agreed structure is such that once projects are constructed, the projects will be acquired from EnerGrid by IndiGrid at a pre-agreed value and the capital can be recycled into new projects. 

Candi

Candi Solar was founded in 2018 by three former colleagues, creating a distributed energy business by providing flexible contract structures for solar power focusing on the underserved small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) clients who is struggling to access attractive financing due to their credit ratings. Distributed energy solutions are an important part of the energy transition in emerging markets and the Climate Investment Fund is supporting this by investing USD 20 million as part of a larger investment round of USD 38 million of growth capital for the company. Kyuden International and STOA account for the rest of the amount. The company is operating in South Africa and India. 

Xurya

In 2024, the Climate Investment Fund made its first direct investment into Indonesia by investing 25 million USD in Xurya, a company that offers rooftop solar rental to commercial and industrial companies. By renting out the solar PVs, the businesses can overcome the high installation costs of adopting renewable energy, making it easier to switch from fossil to renewable energy supply. The investment was part of a USD 55 million fund raise with investors such as British International Investment (BII), Swedfund, Climate Capital and AC Ventures participated. This is the first investment is under the Just Energy Transition (JETP) where Norway has pledged up to USD 250 million of equity investments via the Climate Investment Fund.  

Pele

Pele Green Energy Group is a South African Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) infrastructure company, founded by five young entrepreneurs in 2009. The group develops, owns, builds, and operates renewable energy projects in South Africa. As of today, they have 980 MW in operation, 670 MW under construction, and a further pipeline of more than 5 GW under development. Many of the Climate Investment Fund’s investments are follow-on investments in existing investees and the fund made its first invested in Pele Green Energy in 2023. The first investment of approximately 400 million NOK has contributed to the construction of a portfolio of large solar and wind power plants. The company now needs more capital to finance further growth, which is planned within projects that deliver energy directly to businesses (C&I), investments in battery storage, and government tenders for larger renewable projects. As in the previous investment, the Climate Investment Fund is partnering with Nedbank, one of South Africa’s largest banks, to invest a total of ca 320 million NOK to scale up the company’s investments in renewable energy of which the Climate Investment Fund is investing ca 160 million NOK.