A massive wind power investment announced Thursday puts the renewable infrastructure asset class in the spotlight, just as private investment firms are ramping up efforts to market it to wealthy investors.
Dominion Energy, Inc. on Tuesday disclosed the sale of a 50% stake in the company’s massive Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project to private equity firm Stonepeak. The New York-based firm oversees more than $70 billion in assets entrusted by institutional investors.
For Stonepeak, which focuses on infrastructure investments globally, the $2.6 billion deal provides a non-control stake in the largest U.S. wind power project under construction. Upon completion in 2026, the CVOW will have 176 turbines which are expected to produce enough power for 660 thousand homes.
Traditionally, access to direct investments into renewable infrastructure has been limited to pensions, endowments and sovereign wealth funds. With competition for institutions allocations becoming increasingly intense, a growing number of private investment firms are providing access to rich individuals.
Hamilton Lane HLNE unveiled two new private infrastructure funds targeting high-net-worth individuals on Oct. 8. The Hamilton Lane Private Infrastructure Fund is an interval fund — a continuously offered closed-end vehicle structure, for accredited investors. The power, energy and environmental portions of the fund’s portfolio will focus heavily on renewable and sustainable projects.
Hamilton Lane was early to the race to win over affluent investors, launching the firm’s first wealth management targeted fund around five years ago. More recently, the $940 billion hard asset investment firm has been aggressively building out its high-net-worth efforts with key hires this year to expand its retail footprint globally.
As private funds find increasing interest among wealthy clients, a downmarket push to introduce sustainable infrastructure to retail investors has met mixed results so far. JP Morgan’s Sustainable Infrastructure ETF BLLD has attracted a modest $23 million in the two years since it was introduced. The VanEck Green Infrastructure ETF RNEW , launched in late October 2022, has to date taken in less than $2 million in assets.
More stories we’re tracking at Equities:
Climeworks announces CO2 air removal deal with Morgan Stanley
Climeworks announced an agreement with Morgan Stanley MS on Thursday to remove 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the air annually through 2037. The Wall Street bank will offset its carbon footprint through the Direct Air Credits created through the removal process.
Switzerland-based Climeworks will use the contract proceeds to expand their franchise into North American markets. JP Morgan JPM and UBS UBS have already announced similar deals with Climeworks in recent years. Currently, Climeworks operates two CO2 air capture plants in Iceland to provide third-party certified carbon removal credits.
Wind power on pace for a record year
A report from the think tank Ember concluded that wind-power is on pace to account for a record percentage of total global electricity generation in 2024. The growing share of energy produced through wind projects has been supercharged by massive investments in China — which now accounts for over 40% of all wind turbine created power worldwide.
Fordham creates socially responsible committee for endowment
While donor pushback at many U.S. educational institutions has led to reduced allocations to impact investments by endowments, Fordham University has established a new committee to address non-donor stakeholder concerns. University President Tania Tetlow has announced the creation of the Socially Responsible Investing Committee (SRIC) earlier this month to address student and faculty concerns about how Fordham invests its $1 billion endowment.
Read more: Will uranium prices blow up … again?
