Actis Forms New $500 Mn Renewable Firm in Japan

Nozomi Energy- a new renewable energy platform has been set up by London-based global infrastructure investor Actis. The new firm aims at  1.1 GW of onshore wind and solar power generation in Japan by 2027 with an investment of $500 million.

The firm said in its statement that the investment for Nozomi Energy has come from its latest $6 billion energy infrastructure fund. Actis already has investments in 12 GW of renewable energy capacity globally, it noted.

As a first step,  Nozomi has already signed its first investment and seed asset by acquiring 100% of Hergo Japan Energy Corporation, which is  an international renewable energy developer. Hergo has a portfolio of operating and development-stage solar and onshore wind projects totaling around 230 MW, in addition to  significant pipeline of early-stage projects.

The statement informed that Hergo’s CEO, Minoru Saito, will remain with the new platform as Vice-Chairman and Head of Wind at Nozomi.

“Japan has challenging but critical emission reduction targets, and Nozomi will play an important role in enabling the country to achieve them. We want to create another industry leader in renewable power through this well-funded new platform. It should positively impact decarbonization by creating local jobs and supporting communities while still making superior returns for our global investors,” said Jun Ohashi, Head of Actis Japan.

 Jose Antonio Millan Ruano will lead Nozomi, an experienced energy professional with around 20 years of renewables experience,recently he was the President & CEO of Hinode Energy.

It will focus on delivering onshore wind and solar energy generation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 46% from 2013 levels by 2030. It will also focus on generating employment and supporting community investment to ensure a strong positive social impact during the life of the investment.

Last year in November, BluPine Energy, backed by Actis, acquired 404 MW of solar assets from Kolkata-based mining company Atha Group. With its presence across India Actis hopes that the acquisition would enable BluPine, formed early last year, to support India’s energy transition by targeting 4 GW of portfolio capacity over the next 4-5 years.

Actis will use `The Actis Impact Score’, its proprietary measurement framework,to define and measure positive outcomes at Nozomi. Actis’ Transition Tool to identify decarbonisation opportunities. In March 2022,the statement informed that it expanded its presence in Asia with a new office in Japan and key senior hires, Jun Ohashi and Tareq Sirhan.