Danish fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and French renewable energy power producer and developer Akuo have announced a partnership to develop more than 400 megawatts of onshore wind, solar and run-of-river hydro projects in Indonesia.

A joint venture has been established between CIP's Copenhagen Infrastructure New Markets Fund I (CI NMF) and Akuo subsidiary PT Akuo Energy Indonesia. The transaction marks CI NMF’s first investment in the Indonesian renewable energy market.

Astris Finance acted as exclusive financial adviser to CI NMF, while Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners, a member of Baker Mckenzie, was legal adviser.

The initial pipeline of 400MW represents 4.5% of the additional capacity required for Indonesia to reach its target of 23% renewable energy by 2025.

“Indonesia is a market with relatively limited renewable energy penetration, but very significant potential, and is therefore a key focus market for CI NMF,“ says Niels Holst, partner and head of CI NMF. "Together with our recently announced investment in India, this transaction demonstrates significant progress against CI NMF’s investment plan and underlines our ability to complete investments despite continued Covid-19-driven uncertainty.”

With a population of 240 million, Indonesia is expected to continue experiencing solid economic growth. Akuo forecasts electricity demand in the country will increase by 8% per annum. It should also increase its electrification ratio from 70% in 2010 to 100% in 2024, with renewable energy penetration rising from 5% in 2011 to 23% in 2025. 

CIP was founded in 2012 by leading senior executives from the renewable energy industry, in cooperation with PensionDanmark. As a fund management firm, it is focused on energy infrastructure, including offshore wind, onshore wind, solar PV, biomass and energy-from-waste, transmission and distribution, reserve capacity and storage, and other energy assets such as Power-to-X.

CIP has approximately 200 employees and offices in Copenhagen, Hamburg, New York, Tokyo, Utrecht, and London. CI NMF invests primarily in greenfield renewable energy infrastructure projects in fast-growing economies across Asia and Latin America, as well as certain countries in Eastern Europe where CI NMF sees scale, growth, and liquidity.

CIP manages eight funds and has approximately €16 billion (US$18.76 billion) under management.

As a renewable energy power producer and developer, Akuo is present across the entire value chain, including project development, financing, construction, and operation.

As of end-2020, Akuo had invested more than €2.6 billion for a current total capacity of 1.2 gigawatts (GW) in operation or under construction and over 5GW of projects under development. With more than 350 employees, the group, headquartered in Paris, has a presence in over 15 countries around the world.