The European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the European Investment Bank Group (EIB), has closed a commitment to invest €50 million in EVERWOOD RENEWABLES EUROPE V FCR, a Spanish-based Fund managed by Everwood Capital devoted to investing in renewable assets in Southern Europe. Everwood Fund V will invest in developing, constructing, and operating a portfolio of new renewable projects, primarily photovoltaic assets.
Everwood Fund V is also one of the first Spanish funds to classify under Art. 9 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), the highest classification under the new directive. This implies that the investments under Everwood Fund V will contribute to reducing CO2 emissions and will be aligned to the EU Taxonomy.
Everwood complies with all environmental, regulatory and labor requirements for the development of its renewable project and has implemented pre-investment processes to assess the sustainability impact of the project before the investment is closed. Moreover, the fund will also actively monitor over 40 sustainable KPIs during the lifetime of the project.
The EIF’s investment commitment to Everwood Fund V is fully aligned with the EIB Group Climate Bank Roadmap’s objectives and the EU Taxonomy classification, contributing to achieving the goal of 45% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2035 set in at COP26.
Everwood Fund V has already closed the acquisition of a 1 GW portfolio in Spain comprising c. 20 projects, which are currently under development and expected to be fully operational by 2024. This portfolio provides visibility to c. 70% of the Fund’s future assets, making the investment more attractive than other “blind-pool” vehicles. With EIF’s commitment, Everwood Fund V reaches c. € 250 million closed commitments and is confident to reach its € 500 million target in 2022.
Alain Godard, Chief Executive of the EIF, said: “This is yet another signal about the EIF strong commitment to promoting green and sustainable investments, aligned with the EU taxonomy. By backing Everwood Fund V, we will support the development of renewable energy sources in Sothern Europe, with special focus in Spain, one of the largest solar markets in Europe.”
For Everwood Fund V, the commitment of EIF is a key milestone. Everwood founding partner, José Antonio Urquizu has declared: “EIF’s investment commitment is a world-class recognition of both the investment strategy and the management company, as EIF ensures alignment not only with return standards but also with sustainability, ethics and market-oriented standards in the private equity industry.” Furthermore, Alfredo Fernández, founding partner added: “The commitment of EIF to the Fund has only been completed after a thorough due-diligence process, which we are confident will provide comfort to other institutional investors to achieve our target Fund size in the following months.”
Background information:
The European Investment Fund is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops both venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. The EIF is also active in supporting Climate and Infrastructure fund investments with a strong focus on climate action & environmental sustainability.
Through its activities, the EIF fosters EU objectives in support of countering climate change as well as fostering innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth and employment.
Everwood Capital is a Spain based Management Company specialized in renewable assets. Since its foundation in 2015, Everwood Capital has raised five Funds to invest in renewable energy assets, with a special focus on photovoltaic projects. Funds I, II and III have already been fully divested with realized net annual returns to investors of between 18% and 33% net IRRs. Everwood Fund IV, incorporated in 2018, was the first Spanish Fund devoted to greenfield utility scale photovoltaic projects, strategy continued by Everwood Fund V, which is still under fundraising and is expected to achieve its final closing in 2022.
