Border to Coast commits £48.5 million to build renewable energy infrastructure

Border to Coast Pension Partnership has allocated £48.5 million to a UK clean energy fund on behalf of its partner funds.

The investment is the first within the pool’s UK Opportunities portfolio, which it launched earlier this year with the intention of putting £500 million to work in UK productive assets.

The pool has backed the Capital Dynamics Clean Energy UK Fund, which has already invested in four wind farms in Scotland. Once operational the farms are expected to deliver enough energy to the UK grid to power more than 46,000 homes.

The fund will invest primarily in solar and wind power assets as well as battery storage, Border to Coast said in a statement.

Joe McDonnell, Border to Coast’s chief investment officer, said: “From the outset we said our UK Opportunities proposition would focus on adding value through financing the build of new infrastructure and our first commitment on behalf of partner funds delivers just that.

“Capital Dynamics offers not only a strong investment opportunity, but also the ability to have a tangible impact on the future pipeline of renewable energy infrastructure that the UK sorely needs if it is to reduce its reliance on oil and gas and meet net zero goals.”

As well as renewable energy, the UK Opportunities portfolio targets investment in housing, transport and growth finance across the UK. Border to Coast received a Pensions Expert Investment Innovation Award for the strategy in May.