UAE infrastructure investor Alcazar Energy reached a USD 336.6 mn first close for its second sustainable infrastructure fund, according to a company statement. The Alcazar Energy Partners II fund plans to invest in developing a portfolio of 2 GW worth of renewable energy projects across emerging markets, which will power up to 1 mn homes across developing countries offsetting some 3.2 mn tons of CO2 equivalent, the statement notes.

Who’s in? EBRD. Limited partners include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which kicked in USD 80 mn to the first close. And a whole bunch of DFIs: Other LPs include the European Investment Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the German Development Institution, and the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, among others.

The fund has a target to raise USD 500 mn, with a “hard cap” of USD 650 mn. Its investments will help mobilize c. USD 2 bn in foreign direct investment and create some 15k construction jobs in EM.

Background: Alcazar Energy Partners I — the first fund by the UAE’s Alcazar Energy — was launched in 2014 and raised a total of USD 240 mn to invest in equity for solar and wind energy projects with up to USD 700 mn poured into solar and wind farms in Egypt and Jordan, the statement says. The first fund’s portfolio was acquired in 2021 by Chinese energy firm China Three Gorges Corporation. Alcazar Energy inked an agreement to invest in a green hydrogen-based ammonia facility with a total production capacity of 230k tons annually with Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone back in August.