The Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund, or Geeref, mainly invested by the European Union, will put 10 million euros ($12.5 million) in a private Chinese fund, the EU’s energy commissioner said.
“China is one of the world’s leading countries in terms of renewable energy investment,” Guenther Oettinger said at a media briefing in Shanghai today.
China, the world’s biggest polluter, aims to cut carbon emissions per unit of gross domestic product by as much as 45 percent of 2005 levels by 2020. The country joins the U.S. as the most attractive location in which to invest in renewable energy after spending $34.6 billion on clean-fuel projects last year, Ernst & Young LLP said in a report in June.
The Chinese fund, known as China GreenStar Resource Utilization Investment Fund, is the country’s first private equity fund with a focus on energy efficiency and emissions reduction projects, Oettinger said.
Geeref invests in private equity funds that provide financing to small and medium-sized projects. As of September last year, Geeref has reached 108 million euros in size, according to the fund’s website.
The fund is advised by the European Investment Fund to provide clean energy to emerging countries and economies in transition. Germany and Norway are Geeref’s other investors.
(Bloomberg)
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