Foresight Group Holdings Ltd.'s energy transition fund, Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners, made a joint venture investment into geothermal energy in the Netherlands with 85 Degrees Renewable Ltd. The investment involves both the acquisition of operational wells and construction of new wells, along with a significant pipeline of development projects with a potential build-out capacity of about 200 MW, according to an Oct. 25 news release.
The news comes shortly after the fund, or FEIP, secured €851.4 million in total commitments at financial close in September, exceeding its €500 million target by over 70%. The Dutch government supports geothermal heat energy as a strategic priority, given it will contribute to the country's national emissions-reduction objectives. Studies show that geothermal heat can achieve carbon savings of over 90% by displacing the need for fossil fuel usage.
85 Degrees has experience in geothermal development in the Netherlands as well as in the wider drilling and pipeline sector, and has been involved in a large proportion of the Dutch geothermal projects developed to date. The deal is FEIP's fifth investment and brings a third technology to its portfolio, providing diversification to its existing wind and energy-from-waste assets.
"The partnership with 85 Degrees paves the way for future expansion across a sector which we see as having considerable investment potential,"
Richard Thompson, Foresight partner and co-manager of FEIP, said in a statement.
FEIP's investment strategy aims to achieve specific decarbonization objectives in line with the EU's sustainable finance taxonomy and the Paris Agreement on climate change.