(Credit: Pixabay)Windmill Capital Management (WCM), a clean energy capital and finance company, today announced the launch of an offering for a private clean energy investment fund. Windmill Clean Energy Credit Trust (CECT) will offer up to $250 million of Class 1 Beneficial Interests (Shares) to accredited investors. CECT, a Delaware statutory trust, will fund purchase-money loans secured by commercial clean energy projects around the United States.
According to WCM, commercial clean energy represents an overlooked opportunity for institutional and accredited investors. The lack of capital for the segment is due, in part, to the difficulty of sourcing high-quality projects.
WCM expects CECT to fund purchase-money loans of $5 million to $10 million for clean energy project owners and users. CECT will offer Shares in series, each of which is backed by a specific group of loans.
CECT will consider loans secured by commercial solar, cogeneration and biomass projects to owners who sell or use the generated energy. WCM will originate and service the loans and Windmill Capital Adviser, a California Registered Investment Advisor and an affiliate of WCM, is the fund manager.
This news comes on the heels of several clean energy investment announcements. Earlier this week, Alternative Investment Partners Private Markets (AIP Private Markets), part of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, announced it has built upon its $800 million impact investing platform by closing on a fund which will focus on climate solutions. The $110 million fund seeks to address critical climate issues including global warming and pollution, depleting resources and eco diversity. And in April, BlackRock’s Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Fund (GEPIF) announced it achieved a $5.1 billion final close of Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Fund III (GEPIF III), making it the largest alternative investment fundraise in BlackRock history. The final close value also exceeded both the original fund target of $3.5 billion and the original hard cap of $4.5 billion.
