Alterra, the UAE’s climate fund, supports Absolute Energy’s renewable energy project in Italy

Alterra, one the largest private climate funds in the world, has invested its second direct money in Europe via Italian renewable energy company Absolute Energy. It plans to do more deals, according to its CEO.

The fund, which was set up by the United Arab Emirates in 2023 with $30 billion and has invested so far $6.5 billion, mainly through climate and transformation funds managed by global investment firms BlackRock Brookfield and TPG.

In the deal with Absolute Energy, the fund will invest $50 million of direct equity from its Acceleration funds alongside U.S. Infrastructure firm I Squared Capital. The investment will accelerate the development of a first 1.4 gigawatts of solar and battery storage in Italy.

Majid Al Suwaidi, Alterra's CEO, said that until now the company had only invested directly in two companies, Evren, an Indian renewables platform, and Neoen, a French renewables firm.

He said, "We have now moved from the first phase to a new phase of our work."

This is our third coinvestment in quick succession. It's really charting for us a new course."

Alterra reported that Absolute Energy’s initial project will reduce climate-damaging emission by as much as 380,000 tons per year. It also has a 6 GW development plan.

Alterra was created at the UAE hosted COP28 climate talks. The team now has 14 members and aims to mobilize $250 billion worldwide by 2030 in order to accelerate the energy transformation.

Al Suwaidi stated that finding deals that fit their mandate was "more difficult" than they expected. They are looking for smaller deals, of at least $50 million, in the areas industrial decarbonisation and climate technology as well as renewable energy and sustainability "to get things moving".

He said, "We are becoming more clear about what we expect from a transaction and smarter about our expectations."

Alterra has said that for each dollar invested in its Acceleration and Transformation Funds, it has attracted an additional $8 and $4 from other investors. (Reporting and editing by Tomaszjanowski, Virginia Furness and Simon Jessop)

(source: Reuters)