Global investment firm BlackRock will back up its belief in the next generation of energy goals and investing to establish a perpetual strategy to help drive the global energy transition.
The strategy will include investments in energy transition, energy security, digital and community infrastructure, sustainable mobility and circular economy. It will invest in integrated businesses, such as utilities and end-to-end renewable energy infrastructure players, and assets, like data centers, grid digitization technologies, battery storage systems, and natural gas storage and transport facilities which can be adapted for hydrogen.
“We believe the intersection of infrastructure and sustainability will be one of the biggest opportunities in alternative investments in the coming years. At the same time, recent events have sharpened the focus on energy security and further compounded the need for infrastructure investment,” said Edwin Conway, Global Head of BlackRock Alternative Investors. “Private markets will continue to play a pivotal role in the energy transition, and we are pleased to offer our clients another way to go beyond simply navigating the transition to driving it forward.”
As it invests, BlackRock will also aim to create inflation-linked returns for investors and economic growth. More than half of the strategy will focus on Europe initially and gradually expand worldwide.
In the second half of the year, BlackRock plans to launch underlying open-ended investment vehicles and seek founding partners. These open-ended structures will enable raising an investment of capital over the life of the strategy.
According to the “Financing Roadmaps,” Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero report, approximately $125 trillion will be needed worldwide to achieve net zero by 2050, including more than $4 trillion annually. Additionally, the BlackRock Investment Institute has analysed that the move away from Russian energy will accelerate the energy transition in Europe over the long term.
“BlackRock is a leader in the energy transition, having mobilized over $55 billion of investments across our infrastructure strategies since their inception,” said Anne Valentine Andrews, Global Head of BlackRock Real Assets. “Our ability to convene companies, governments and institutional clients means we are uniquely placed to deploy capital from investors globally into real assets that drive the energy transition and have a positive impact on local communities and economies.”
Recently, BlackRock has partnered with several firms and invested in projects for energy transition. These include a joint venture with battery energy storage systems developer KX Power, an investment in energy infrastructure firm Kellas Midstream, an investment in one of Europe’s leading high-power charging networks IONITY and another investment in smart meters installation firm Calisen. It has also partnered with the governments of France, Japan and German to raise the Climate Finance Partnership.
