UK impact investor and development finance institution British International Investment (BII) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) have partnered to launch North Star, a $300-million platform aimed at accelerating renewable power development in India.
BII said it will commit $150 million to the platform, with an additional $150 million to come from Danish global fund manager CIP through its Growth Markets Fund II (GMF II).
North Star is the first investment under British Climate Partners (BCP), a 1.1-billion-pound climate finance initiative unveiled by BII last month as part of its five-year strategy.
BII said BCP is expected to mobilise about 3.5 billion pound in private capital over the life of its investments, taking total expected commitments to 4.6 billionpound.
BCP is designed to mobilise large‑scale institutional capital into climate solutions across fast-growing and coal-dependent economies in Asia, including India, as well as the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and other South-East Asian countries.
India is planning to more than triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, but needs to fill a $160-billion-per-year funding gap to meet that ambition.
“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. By partnering with CIP, we are crowding in private capital from day one of this new platform, and I expect further private investment in North Star over the following years,” said Leslie Maasdorp, Chief Executive of BII.
The launch of North Star was announced at the Global Partnerships Conference in London. The event, co-hosted by the UK, South Africa, BII, and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, is expected to bring together more than 600 participants from governments, international organisations, philanthropy, investors, technology, and civil society.
