Armstrong clean energy fund raises USD 164m, beats target

Nov 11, 2013 - Singapore-based Armstrong Asset Management said today it had obtained USD 164 million (EUR 123m) in commitments for its clean energy fund, surpassing the initial USD-150-million goal.

The Armstrong South East Asia Clean Energy Fund, which offers development capital to small-scale renewable energy projects in southeastern Asia, was launched in 2012. French private equity firm Proparco SA, a unit of the French Development Agency, and Geneva-based asset manager Unigestion took part in the final closing for the Armstrong fund, together with existing investors. The firms contributed with commitment totalling USD 33 million.

The ten-year fund has received commitments from 10 investors from Europe, North America and Asia since the fund's first close in August 2012, Armstrong Asset Management said.

Among the fund’s investors are also the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), Netherlands Development Finance Co, also known as FMO, and the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF). During its lifespan, the fund will invest in between 10 and 15 projects of up to USD 25 million each. Small-scale renewable energy projects of up to 10 MW will be “typical” for the fund. It targets various technologies such as solar, hydropower, biogas and wind.

In August the Armstrong Fund said it would provide as much as USD 30 million to support an initial pipeline of photovoltaic (PV) and biogas power projects in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, developed by Annex Power. In May it took a stake in the developer of a 30-MW solar portfolio in Thailand.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.747)

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