Mirova has held the final close of Mirova-Eurofideme 4, its fourth equity investment fund dedicated to clean energy projects, as EUR857 million.
This significant fundraising can be considered a reward for 17 years of investment in renewable energy and brings the total amount of unlisted assets of Mirova’s energy transition to EUR1.3 billion. In 2002, Mirova, an expert in the sector, launched a first EUR46 million fund alongside the French Climate Agency (ADEME) to support the nascent wind industry in France. The company then raised EUR94 million in 2009 and EUR350 million in 2016, going towards new geographical areas and technologies. Thus, over the years, Mirova has financed more than 180 projects representing a total installed capacity of nearly 1.8 GW across Europe. Today, Mirova Eurofideme 4 has succeeded in convincing new investors, but in the same time, the fund has also seen the return of leading European investors such as the European Investment Bank (EIB), already present in prior energy transition funds within the framework of the Investment Plan for Europe known as the “Juncker plan”.
According to Raphaël Lance, Head of Mirova’s Energy Transition Funds, “institutional investors’ interest in Mirova Eurofideme 4 provides evidence of the relevance of renewable energy as an uncorrelated and efficient asset class in a context of low interest rates. This also demonstrates the increasing need, regarding climate emergency, to target investments towards underlying assets in line with the 1.5°C objective.”
“Mirova is a long-standing partner of the European Investment Bank, which has always demonstrated its commitment and reliability in financing renewable energy projects,” says Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the EIB. “wWe are very pleased to be able to participate in the launch of a new fund, with the guarantee offered by the “Juncker Plan” allowing us, as a bank of the European Union, to continue to affirm the importance of addressing climate change in our strategy.”
Although the core of Mirova Eurofideme 4 strategy remains greenfield or brownfield projects using proven technologies (onshore wind energy, solar photovoltaics, hydropower, biomass, biogas), the fund will have the opportunity of investing in developing projects or targeting less mature market segments (electric and hydrogen mobility, electricity storage). Like prior funds, it will retain a high degree of flexibility in its intervention procedures (majority or minority ownership, equity funding or subordinated debt[2], bridge financing[3]) built on strong industry partnerships and high technical expertise of its teams.
The Mirova-Eurofideme 4 fund has already made its first investments and deployed more than EUR300 million, financing nearly 600 MW of projects in France, Portugal, Norway and Spain. To support this growth, Mirova’s Energy Transition team has expanded and consists of 14 employees today.
