
Asia Pacific-focused investment firm PAG announced in late May 2024 that it closed its first renewable energy-focused fund, PAG REN I. The $550 million-fund, which will invest in renewable energy assets across Asia will, in particular, focus on solar assets in Japan.
According to the company, the fund, which received investment from pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and funds of funds in North America, Europe, and the Middle East aims to “support the development, acquisition, and operations of renewable energy assets, advancing the region’s clean energy transition while generating attractive risk-adjusted returns.”
“Annual investment in renewables [in Japan] will need to increase from 2023 by more than five times throughout the rest of this decade to achieve government targets to roughly double renewable generation from 2020 levels on its path to net zero in 2050. Japan is also home to the second largest number of corporates who have committed to source one hundred percent of their energy needs from renewables,” the media release explains.
When announcing the closing of the fund, Dimitrios Vavougyios, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of PAG in Japan, said “Demand from corporate customers in Japan who value protection from energy price volatility and clean energy attributes far outstrips current supply, and will drive the next phase of growth.”
The fund’s portfolio will be managed by PAG Renewables, PAG’s subsidiary focused on the development, construction, management, and operation of renewable energy assets.
In Japan, PAG Renewables has been involved in the development and operation of 588MW worth of solar assets since 2012. In addition to owning and operating assets under the country’s feed-in-tariff scheme, the Japan Energy Hub CPPA module shows that the company has also signed at least one corporate PPA in the country.