Swiss DFI backs Berkeley Energy’s second Asia vehicle

The Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets, a development-focused vehicle backed by the Swiss government, has invested $10 million in an Asian renewables fund managed by Berkeley Energy. 

The Renewable Energy Asia Fund II, which has a target size of $250 million, will follow a strategy similar to its $110 million predecessor, which is invested in renewable energy projects in India, the Philippines and Indonesia. REAF II is expected to reach final close in 2017. 

The fund hit a $112 million first close in April thanks to commitments from several development institutions, according to a statement by the European Investment Bank. The Netherlands Development Finance Corporation and the EIB-managed Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund, which are investing in REAF II, were already LPs in REAF I and another African-focused vehicle managed by the London-based firm.

Other investors that helped bring REAF II to its first close include the International Finance Corporation, the IFC Catalyst Fund, and Oikocredit, a Philippines-based social investor.   

REAF I is now fully deployed across seven projects. Berkeley Energy’s $200 million African fund, which reached its final close last year, has so far supported nine projects, EIB said in April. 

With four offices in Asia and Africa, Berkeley Energy provides engineering, management and financial support to renewable energy projects. It primarily targets the wind, small hydro and geothermal sectors.