Join +750K new investors every month who copy stock picks from billionaire's portfoliosSign Up Free

Macquarie launches green infrastructure bank GIG in North America

Published 2018-06-28, 06:30 a/m
Macquarie launches green infrastructure bank GIG in North America
MQG
-
FSLR
-

By David French

NEW YORK, June 28 (Reuters) - Macquarie Capital is launching the Green Investment Group (GIG) in North America, it said on Thursday, seeking to capitalize on the region's growing renewable energy industry and heightened demand among professional investors for its assets.

GIG was originally the Green Investment Bank, created by the UK government in 2012 as the world's first bank dedicated to supporting green infrastructure schemes. It was sold to Macquarie Group MQG.AX in 2017 for 2.3 billion pounds ($3.02 billion).

Having expanded into Europe and, most recently, Asia, GIG will now operate in the United States and Canada, aiming to finance the development of renewable energy schemes, as well as structuring numerous smaller projects into larger investments that can be sold to institutional investors.

"Fundamentally, it's about asset creation, bringing projects together and de-risking them to make them attractive for insurance companies, pension and investment funds to own," Chris Archer, head of green energy for the Americas at Macquarie Capital, told Reuters.

Renewable energy generation in the United States has been growing at a significant pace, accounting for over half of the country's annual added electric capacity in five of the six years between 2012 and 2017.

While President Donald Trump's administration has implemented policies regarded as unfavorable to the renewables sector, including ending tax credits and placing tariffs on imported solar panels, demand from states and companies for more clean energy and the falling cost of technology are expected to support growth. bankers and industry analysts have noted there is an unprecedented amount of private capital trying to invest in the U.S. renewables sector.

However, Mark Dooley, Macquarie Capital's global head of green energy, believed the bank's focus on developing projects from the start meant there were still plenty of schemes it could back.

"There's a lot of capital chasing fully executed, packaged and operating projects that are easy to invest in. We're in there when work needs to be done, whether it's finance, structuring or technical skills."

As part of its North American expansion, GIG will partner with two former First Solar Inc FSLR.O developers, Brian Kunz and Nik Novograd, to create Candela Renewables, which will develop solar projects in the U.S. ($1 = 0.7627 pounds)

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.