Glennmont Partners, one of the largest infrastructure vehicles dedicated to clean energy across Europe, has secured a €50 million investment in its second fund by the European Investment Bank. The investment is the single largest clean energy equity investment made by EIB this year.
Clean energy investment is a key focus for the EIB as it works to support the European Union’s stated policy objective to cut greenhouse-gas emissions across Europe by 20% over the next six years. In recent years the EIB’s annual lending in this sector has increased substantially reaching €3.3bn in 2012. As well as lending, the EIB makes equity investments and provides finance and expertise to projects across Europe. The EIB has a rigorous review process for all the projects that it chooses to invest in including considering their financial, technical and social long-term performance.
Commenting on the EIB investment, Joost Bergsma, CEO of Glennmont, said: “We are delighted that the EIB has chosen to invest in our second fund. It has developed a first class reputation for its work in clean energy and this investment further demonstrates that our independent, specialist approach is attractive to top-level investors. We share a common goal with the EIB to promote sustainable and secure sources of energy for the UK while also delivering consistent yield and long-term capital appreciation for investors.”
“Glennmont has an established track record and proven readiness to support renewable energy projects across Europe. The European Investment Bank is pleased to back projects that tackle a changing climate.” said Jonathan Taylor, European Investment Bank Vice President responsible for environment and climate lending.
The EIB’s investment will be directly injected into Glennmont’s second clean energy infrastructure fund which now has commitments of €250 million from both new and existing investors from its first fund.
Glennmont Partners was founded earlier this year following a spin-off of BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners. Its seeks to raise long-term capital to invest in alternative power generation projects focusing on proven technologies such as wind, biomass, solar and small-scale hydro across the UK and continental Europe. Glennmont’s investment approach dovetails with the EIB’s strategy to back only carefully selected, risk managed investments that aim to deliver sustained performance and predictable returns for investors.