The £2.4bn Cornwall Pension Fund, which is part of Brunel Pension Partnership has expanded its investments in the energy transition with a £40m commitment to Octopus’ Energy Transition Fund (OETF).
At least some of the assets invested could be deployed locally as OETF invests among others in Cornwall-based heat pump business, Kensa Group to scale the roll-out of heat pumps in Britain. It also invests in Deep Green this year, which aims to scale technology to re-use heat from data centres. This technology has been successfully applied at a public swimming pool in Devon.
OETF, which is managed by Octopus Energy Generation aims to raise a total of £500m in capital from institutional investors to fund energy transition opportunities ranging from heating to storage, transport and more. Overall, Octopus Energy Generation has some £7bn invested in energy transition assets.
Alex Brierley, co-head of Octopus Energy Generation’s fund management business, who recently spoke at the NZI Renewable Infrastructure Summit commented: “It’s brilliant to be working with Cornwall Pension Fund to turbocharge the energy transition and invest in a sustainable future for generations to come. Through the Octopus Energy Transition Fund, we’re backing massively scalable sectors decarbonising our economy that will drive down bills for customers, boost local economies, and help us get to net zero quicker than ever before.”
Cornwall’s investment is part of a wider overhaul of its portfolio in a bid to meet its Net Zero by 2045 target. Matthew Chapman, investment manager at Cornwall Pension Fund explained: “The Cornwall Pension Fund has ambitious climate objectives, and we want to drive real change through how we invest. Through this partnership with Octopus Energy, we can make widespread positive impact, actively investing in and benefiting from the transition to a low carbon economy.”
Prior to the announcement, Cornwall fully divested from the Brunel Core Global Equity holding managed by Newton and invested the proceeds in Brunel’s Global High Alpha Fund. It also sold off its investments in the Brunel Diversified Growth holding managed by Invesco and allocated the money to Brunel’s Diversifying Returns Portfolio instead.
As part of its commitment to impact investment, it also allocated £25m to Schroders’ Greencoat renewable energy strategy, alongside five other Brunel funds.
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