Your Newsletter at a Glance
Note from the author: Duke Energy is back in our investment sights this week as they agree to sell their Commercial Renewables unit to Brookfield Renewable for $2.8 billion. Uruguay is planning $4 billion in green hydrogen investment and Forbes released new research on emerging trends in climate tech investing.
Nature-based solutions are seeing the creation of youth jobs in Zanzibar’s blue economy and innovation in wood energy economies in the US. And, there is exciting new research on carbon and mycorrhizal mycelium—they estimate that 13 Gt of CO2e is moved through plants and into these underground mycelium networks every year. They explore these findings as an opportunity to include mycorrhizal mycelium in policymaking and carbon cycling models.
Deal Count: This week covers over $150b in deals and commitments in climate finance and almost $200m in NbS around the world. Enjoy the 35 summaries below!
Climate Finance
Deals and commitments above $100m
Market Watch
Ørsted to invest $68b to meet 50GW power capacity by 2030 target [Power Technology]
- According to Reuters, the Danish renewables giant said that its plans will be entirely self-funded. Ørsted added that it expects to exceed the profit expectations for this year, which were set in 2021. The company stands as the largest offshore wind developer in the world by capacity, and currently has an operational output of 15.5GW in renewable assets. It has a further 4.9GW already under construction and has said that projects totalling another 10.6GW have been awarded funding.
Uruguay plans $4b green hydrogen facility investment [Hydrogen Central]
- Uruguay’s state oil company Ancap announced a feasibility study for a new $4 billion green hydrogen project, part of a broader government plan to produce low-cost renewable energy. The planned green hydrogen and e-fuel facility would initially be aimed at trucks used in the forestry sector.
Duke Energy to sell Commercial Renewables unit in $2.8b deal [Reuters]
- Duke Energy Corp said it has agreed to sell its unregulated utility scale Commercial Renewables business to Brookfield Renewable in a deal valued at about $2.8 billion. Duke said it expects net proceeds of about $1.1 billion from the sale, which the company will use to help incorporate more than 30,000 megawatts of regulated renewable energy into its system by 2035. The proceeds are also expected to help strengthen its balance sheet, avoid additional debt and improve grid reliability.
Research
Investors with $68 trillion push companies on climate plans [Bloomberg]
- Climate Action 100+, the world’s biggest investor group on climate change, said it is ramping up efforts to get companies to turn emission-cutting pledges into real-world action. The investor coalition, set up more than five years ago, has a membership of more than 700 investors including BlackRock Inc. and Legal & General Investment Management, which together oversee $68 trillion of assets. In the next phase, which runs until 2030, signatories that remain in the group will be expected to move from pushing companies to make climate-related disclosures to implementing transition plans.
A shifting landscape: Emerging trends in climate tech investing [Forbes]
- The report found that climate tech has been a fast-growing sector for venture capital. Climate equity transactions in private markets rose from roughly $75 billion in 2019 to $196 billion in 2022. They argue that the broader climate ecosystem has grown beyond dependence on a single financial institution. Climate investing experienced a period of growth in capital formation over the past four years, with more than 330 new sustainability, ESG and impact funds launched from 2019 through 2022. The report looks at AI opportunities and risks, nature-based solutions as imperative, and the power of partnerships.
Nature-based Solutions
Deals and commitments above $1m
Market Watch
$54m project to create youth jobs in Zanzibar’s blue economy [e Turbo News]
- The African Development Bank Group and the Republic of Tanzania have launched the Skills Development for Youth Employability in Blue Economy project. This is a project that will enable Zanzibari youth to find well-paying maritime and other blue economy jobs. The project will benefit about 43,000 youth (40% of them female) and prepare over 1,500 of them to start their own enterprises.
- The Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing more than $43 million to expand innovative uses of wood, including as a construction material in commercial buildings, as an energy source, and in manufacturing and processing input for wood products used in framing homes, making paper products and more. These funds are being invested in 123 projects nationwide through Community Wood Grants and Wood Innovations Grants - longstanding Forest Service grant programs that promote innovation in wood products and renewable wood energy economies. Since 2015, the Wood Innovations and Community Wood Grant programs have provided more than $93 million to 381 recipients to support wood products and wood energy projects.
UK Gov makes £31m ($38m) available for sustainable food production [Food Digital]
- The UK has made £31m available for equipment and technology to boost farm productivity; increase environmental sustainability; and help slurry management. Those that are successful in their applications can claim for grants under the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) Productivity and Slurry budget to help cover the cost of more than 90 pieces of equipment. Such equipment includes rainwater harvesting tanks to reduce water scarcity for farmers in the summer; tree shears to help stop the spread of pests and diseases; and equipment to minimize grass contamination and ammonia emissions when spreading slurry.
Research
Mycorrhizal mycelium play important role in global carbon pool [Current Biology]
- This research, which was flagged by a handful of NbS and carbon experts, notes that mycorrhizal fungi may play a central role in transporting and fixing to 13.12 Gt of CO2e per year. This is surprising given that ∼75% of terrestrial carbon is stored belowground and mycorrhizal fungi are stationed at a key entry point of carbon into soil food webs. To reach this conclusion the research scrubbed nearly 200 datasets to provide the first global quantitative estimates of carbon allocation from plants to the mycelium of mycorrhizal fungi. They argue that their findings should motivate mycorrhizal fungi inclusion both within global climate and carbon cycling models, and within conservation policy and practice.
New digital tool maps blue carbon ecosystems in high resolution [Mongabay]
- The Blue Carbon Explorer, a digital tool developed by the nonprofit Nature Conservancy and the Earth-imaging company Planet, combines satellite imagery, drone footage and fieldwork to map mangroves and seagrass in the Caribbean, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. The tool aims to help scientists, conservationists and governments gauge mangrove health and identify areas in need of restoration. The Blue Carbon Explorer is not the first tool to map coastal ecosystems, leveraging one of the largest satellite fleets in the world, the platform provides images in a high resolution, giving conservationists and governments access to data at a more granular level than other data sets.
Climate Finance
Deals and commitments above $100m
Individual Deals & Market Watch
Tennessee, Georgia attracts $45b in private investment, backed by the IRA [Georgia Law News]
- The $2.5 billion in solar manufacturing facilities being built and added in Whitfield and Bartow counties by South Korea-based company QCells are part of what the White House estimates will attract more than $45 billion in private investment in projects for clean energy, electric vehicles and batteries in Tennessee and Georgia in the coming years. With Ford Motor Co. planning a $5.6 billion electric vehicle and battery facility near Memphis, Tennessee will become one of only three states with four different major automakers assembling cars and trucks within its borders. Electric vehicles are already being manufactured at Volkswagen’s plant in Spring Hill and at the Nissan plant in Smyrna.
Queensland backs renewables growth with USD $13b spending plan [Renewables Now]
- The Queensland government will allocate around AUD 19 billion (USD 12.9bn/EUR 11.9bn) in funding to back the development of new wind, solar, storage and transmission projects as the Aussie state works to achieve its climate goals. The funding package will be provided by the state government over four years, it announced as it released its 2023-2024 budget. Close to AUD 5.5 billion of the total is earmarked for government-owned energy entities and their projects in the next year.
Germany to raise 4.25b euros ($4.6b) from new 30-year green bond [Reuters]
- Germany is set to raise 4.25 billion euros ($4.59 billion) from a new 30-year green bond, seeing over 29 billion euros of investor demand. Germany sized the bond, due 15 August 2053, at 4.5 billion euros and will retain 250 million euros of the issuance on its own books. The bond will price at a yield spread of 0.5 basis points below its twin, an otherwise identical conventional bond.
EU to invest EUR 2b ($2.2b) in Brazil's green hydrogen production [Renewables Now]
- Europe will invest EUR 2 billion (USD 2.2b) to support the production of green hydrogen in Brazil and to promote energy efficiency locally. The initiative is part of Global Gateway, the EU’s plan for global investments in green and digital transitions. The REPowerEU plan sets targets of 10 million tonnes of domestic renewable hydrogen production and the same volume of imports per year by 2030.
- Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance has invested €2.74bn in new climate-focused iShares ETFs in the US and Japan, launched by BlackRock. Of that, €2bn was invested in the US fund, with the remaining €745m going into the Japanese fund. Both investments mark a continuation of the firm’s climate-oriented investment policy. The new iShares ETFs track the MSCI Climate Action indices.
- Wind farms, batteries, and EV charging infrastructure will secure a $1.9 billion funding boost on the back of WA Treasury Corporation’s issuance of its first-ever ‘green’ bond. The 10-year “use-of-proceeds” bond, which raised $1.9 billion after attracting more than $6b in bids, will effectively quarantine funding for State Government projects explicitly geared towards decarbonisation or environmentally sustainable outcomes, such as Water Corporation’s desalination plant earmarked for Alkimos and Synergy’s battery systems to be built in Kwinana and Collie.
Rio Tinto to invest $1.1b to expand Canada low-carbon aluminum output [S&P Global]
- Rio Tinto will invest $1.1 billion to expand its low-carbon aluminum smelter—a new process they say produces oxygen rather than greenhouse gasses—in Quebec, adding 160,000 mt/year of primary aluminum capacity through the addition of 96 new AP60 pots. The total 160,000 mt/year expanded capacity is enough for 400,000 electric vehicles. "This investment is aligned with our strategy to decarbonise our value chains and grow in materials essential for the energy transition," CEO Jakob Stausholm said in a statement.
Iberdrola agrees EUR-1b ($1.07b) EIB loan for renewables in Iberia, Germany [Renewables Now]
- Spanish utility group Iberdrola SA has agreed to a EUR1b loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the construction of 2.2 GW of solar and wind power plants in Spain, Portugal, and Germany. The loan will cover the debt portion of the planned EUR-1.7-billion renewables investment. The plan calls for Iberdrola to build 19 solar parks and 3 onshore wind farms in the three aforementioned countries, mostly in rural areas affected by the industrial transition to net zero. Some of the developments will be hybrid projects combining photovoltaics (PV) with wind and energy storage.
VW, Glencore back $1b SPAC Brazilian mine deal to secure EV metals [Bloomberg]
- Russian metal industry veteran Artem Volynets’ blank check firm agreed to acquire two Brazilian mines for $1 billion including debt in a bid to tap demand from electric-vehicle makers. London-listed ACG Acquisition Co. is buying the assets from private equity firm Appian Capital Advisory. Volkswagen AG’s battery arm will support the deal with a $100 million prepayment for future nickel deliveries, while commodities trader Glencore Plc will buy $100 million of ACG stock.
PE firm Antin offers to take Opdenergy private for EUR 866m ($931m) [Renewables Now]
- Private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners has made a voluntary cash tender offer to acquire and delist Spanish renewable energy company Opdenergy Holding SA for a total of EUR 866 million in cash. Through an affiliate of its Flagship Fund V, Antin is offering EUR 5.85 per Opdenergy share, which corresponds to a 46% premium over the last undisturbed share price of the target company.
Idaho-based Kore Power wins $850m DOE loan to build first US battery factory [Canary Media]
- Kore Power, a Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based company that currently makes lithium-ion battery cells in China, has won a conditional commitment from the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office for an $850 million loan to help build its first major U.S. manufacturing facility in Arizona. They build battery cells to serve a variety of end markets, ranging from EVs to EV-charging support and grid storage.
Iberdrola inks supply deal for EUR 750m ($805m) green ammonia project [Renewables Now]
- US commodities trader Trammo inc has agreed to procure up to 100,000 tonnes of green ammonia, starting from 2026, from a plant that Spanish utility Iberdrola SA is planning to build in southern Europe. The off-take framework agreement will facilitate the construction of the plant which is worth EUR 750 million (USD 805.27m) in investment and is backed by European funding.
World Bank extends $750m loan to Philippines for green investments [Philstar]
- The World Bank lent the Philippine government fresh funding to support ongoing reforms targeted at expanding investments in renewables as well as minimizing the Philippines’ carbon footprint. The Washington-based lender indicated that $750 million parked in the "Philippines First Sustainable Recovery Development Policy" loan will address development constraints.
AFC nears closing of $500m Africa Climate Adaptation Fund [Bloomberg]
- AFC Capital Partners secured $300 million in anchor funding led by the United Nations-backed Green Climate Fund, and plans to close the initial phase of an infrastructure-resilience fund by early 2024. The organization, part of the Lagos, Nigeria-based Africa Finance Corp., is in further talks with other investors and expects the fundraising to later rise to between $450 million and $500 million, said Ayaan Zeinab Adam, AFC Capital’s chief executive officer, in an interview at the Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Africa conference in Marrakesh, Morrocco.
Germany's Enpal gets $462m in renewable energy debt funding [Reuters]
- German photovoltaics leasing firm Enpal said it received 430 million euros ($462 million) in debt funding from investors including BlackRock, DWS and ING.
Constellation allocates USD $350m to repower renewables fleet [Renewables Now]
- US energy producer Constellation Energy Corp has allocated USD $350 million (EUR 325.2m) to bolster its renewables fleet, starting with a project to repower its 70-MW Criterion wind farm in Oakland, Maryland. Constellation said that its repowering efforts will enable 315 MW of its existing carbon-free wind fleet to generate greater output at the same wind conditions. Constellation currently operates 27 wind projects with a combined capacity of about 1,400 MW.
Energy platform Athein seeks up to $300m for solar projects [Reuters]
- Asian renewable energy platform Athein is seeking to raise between $250 million and $300 million in equity from investors to fund its planned solar and wind projects in India, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Milan Koev, Athein's chief executive based in Singapore, said the company seeks $1 billion in total over the next five years, to fund the 2.5 gigawatt-peak (GWp) pipeline of projects. The rest will take the form of debt, while Athein has hired Hong Kong-based Green Horizon Capital Partners to advise on the equity raise.
SKF to invest $278m in decarbonization activities [MarketWatch]
- Swedish ball-bearing maker SKF said that it will invest 3 billion Swedish kronor ($278.1 million) to meet its energy and decarbonization goal by 2030. The company said it has also decided to ban any fossil fuel investments in its own operations in addition to replacing direct fossil gas use with renewable energy or approved non fossil fuel alternatives by 2029.
- Amp Energy has now secured up to USD $250 million from SMBC Bank of Japan (Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation), ICG (Intermediate Capital Group), and AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank) to fund the growth of the company to ramp up commercial and industrial renewable energy generation.
- Tetra Tech, Inc., a leading provider of consulting and engineering services, announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, selected Tetra Tech for a $200 million, multiple-award contract to provide architectural and engineering (A-E) design services to modernize inland navigation and flood risk management infrastructure, and to restore aquatic ecosystems.
$192m to advance battery recycling technology from Biden administration [CleanTechnica]
- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced more than $192 million in new funding for recycling batteries from consumer products, launching an advanced battery research and development (R&D) consortium, and the continuation of the Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize, which began in 2019. With the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and stationary energy storage projected to increase the lithium battery market by as much as ten-fold by 2030, it is essential to invest in sustainable, reduced-cost recycling of consumer batteries in support of a secure, resilient, and circular domestic supply chain for critical materials. The announcement supports the Biden-Harris administration’s goal to have EVs make up half of all vehicle sales in America by 2030 and builds on the nearly $3 billion announced to date from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for EV and battery technologies.
EC clears EUR-150m ($161m) renewables, energy storage scheme in Slovenia [Renewables Now]
- The European Commission (EC) approved, under EU state aid rules, a EUR-150-million (USD 161m) scheme in Slovenia that aims to support the expansion of renewable energy, heat and energy storage. The programme will provide direct grants of up to EUR 25 million per beneficiary to speed up investments in renewable energy production and energy storage. Aid will be provided no later than December 31, 2025.
BGE proposes a $120m investment in EV programs [Daily Energy Insider]
- Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) has proposed roughly $120 million for new electric vehicle (EV) programs to benefit customers and support Maryland’s 2022 Climate Solutions Now Act and Advanced Clean Cars II Rule. The proposed initiatives include make-ready infrastructure incentives for any utility work that needs to be done as well as the cost to install public charging stations; make-ready infrastructure incentives for customers to purchase electric medium and heavy-duty buses to help electrify the transit system; an additional 200 charging stations at multifamily properties across the service territory; and expanded residential managed charging and time-of-use (TOU) rates to help maintain grid reliability. The current vehicle charging TOU rate program has 2,022 customers enrolled and continues to grow.
World Bank grants Zambia $100m for sustainable tourism growth [Mirage News]
- The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a $100 million credit to strengthen Zambia’s nature-based economy and increase economic opportunities in emerging tourism destinations in the country such as Liuwa Plains National Park, Source of the Zambezi, and Kasaba Bay. The project is expected to increase economic opportunities and revenue from tourism and the broader nature-based economy sector by improving the enabling environment, engaging key stakeholders, financing key basic infrastructure, and providing matching grants to communities for investments in the nature-based economy.
Research, Frameworks, & Case Studies
India’s path to a low-carbon future [Financial Express]
- At COP27, India formally announced its long-term strategy to transition to a low emissions pathway, committing to reduce the GDP emission intensity by 45% (compared to the 2005 level) by 2030, and become net-zero by 2070. The article makes an argument for global policymakers to help address this shift in the landscape through scaling up renewable energy infrastructure and tech, improving energy efficiency, passing regulatory reforms to address cross-subsidies in electricity tariffs, a declaration of respective net-zero targets, and bridging the funding gap for India’s clean energy projects.
Nature-based Solutions
Deals and commitments above $1m
Individual Deals & Market Watch
Aviva announces £21m ($26.6m) saltmarsh restoration drive [BusinessGreen]
- Aviva has announced it will invest £21m in the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) to support the restoration of carbon-rich saltmarsh habitats that can help tackle climate change and slow nature loss. This is Aviva’s latest tranche of nature funding, as trial of technology designed to boost investment in peatland projects via carbon markets gets underway in northern England.
Winnow winning the food (waste) fight with a $10m raise [tech.eu]
- The London-based firm has raised a Series C round to further fuel the development of its AI-powered solutions to reduce food waste in a commercial setting. The technology harnesses the power of computer vision to identify wasted food items in real time. Winnow’s analytics tools then help teams pinpoint waste areas giving them insights to make operational improvements and cut waste in half. Investors in the round include ArcTern Ventures, Bridge Nine, Mustard Seed, Circularity Capital, Ingka Investments and Novax.
NAB invests AUD10m ($6.7m) in New Harvest’s Indigenous Impact Investment Fund [Global AgInvesting]
- NAB announced it has agreed to invest AUD10 million (US$6.66 million) in New Harvest’s Indigenous Impact Investment Fund (NHIIIF) – an investment vehicle launched to invest in assets that are complementary to the assets of First Nations Australians. Led by Simon Gray, former managing director and head of trading at a number of investment banks, and managed by a team including industry experts and indigenous representation, this New Harvest Fund will make land-based investments to assist traditional owners unlock the value of their agricultural land and carbon projects while increasing the agribusiness expertise of these groups.
Manchester gets nearly $1.6m grant for coastal habitat projects [Gloucester Daily Times]
- In an effort to protect coastal habitat restoration projects in Manchester-by-the-Sea, the federal government is awarding $1.6m for the Central Street Bridge Replacement and Sawmill Brook Restoration Project. The project will reconstruct the bridge with a widened span and remove a tide gate — in an effort to improve tidal flow and enhance fish passage for the threatened rainbow smelt and other species.
- Arda Biomaterials, headquartered in the United Kingdom, has just received a significant boost with £1.1 million in new funding. The investment was led by the Clean Growth Fund, a UK clean-tech venture capital fund. Notable participants in the funding round include Plug and Play, Serpentine Ventures, Satgana, and a group of angel investors from the alternative protein, fashion, and climate tech sectors.
Research, Frameworks, & Case Studies
Global Algae and Seaweed Protein Market Report 2023: A $1.3 billion market by 2028 [GlobeNewswire]
- The report shows that the global market for algae and seaweed protein was valued at $904.7 million in 2022 and is expected to reach $1.3 billion by the end of 2028, at a CAGR of 6.8% from 2023 to 2028. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for the largest share of the global market, while the North American market is projected to show the highest CAGR, at 7.7%, during the forecast period.
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