Switzerland-based collective assets manager Energy Infrastructure Partners AG (EIP) announced the first closure of its global transition infrastructure fund by raising €1 billion (~$1.06 billion) commitments in collaboration with Credit Suisse Investment Foundation.

The fund will participate in two main investments that EIP completed earlier this year. The first is a 30% stake acquisition in Boralex Inc’s French renewables platform, which has an installed generation capacity of over 1 GW.

The second investment was EIP sharing a 25% stake with Credit Agricole Assurances in Repsol’s global clean energy unit— Repsol Renovables — which has over 1.6 GW of installed generation capacity worldwide.

Repsol Renovables quoted the lowest bid of €0.028 (~$0.033)/kWh for an onshore wind capacity of 49 MW in Spain’s auction for 520 MW of renewable projects in October.

These investments focus on expanding the operating asset base of Boralex and increasing its capacity three times. They will also support Repsol’s capacity to grow ten-fold by 2030 to cater to the European and American markets.

EIP said that throughout the first closure of its infrastructure fund, the company catered to the Swiss pension market in close collaboration with the Credit Suisse Foundation.

The company’s investment plans aim at specific system-critical energy infrastructure, including assets generating carbon-free energy, assets that transport energy such as power grids and transmission networks, and that store energy like grid-scale batteries and pumped storage power plants.

It will raise more funds for a second close and is working on expanding its reach outside Switzerland. The second close planned for the end of 2024 targets €4 billion (~$4.2 billion) in total commitments.

EIP’s head of global client solutions, Beat Goetz, said, “The strong demand from our longstanding Swiss client base— especially amid several choppy quarters in public markets and central banks’ movement away from a low-rate environment – is a strong vote of confidence in EIP and energy infrastructure. Considering the unique qualities of system-critical energy infrastructure, this space is seen more and more as its own asset class.”