NextEnergy Capital has closed its fifth international solar and storage fund, NextPower V, with total commitments of $974 million, including co-investment capital. The final tranche of $125 million came from a large UK local government pension scheme and a major Japanese institution, adding to an investor base that includes European pension funds and UK local government pension pools, several of them returning from earlier NextEnergy strategies.
Nextpower agrees $365m deal for BESS supplier Prevalon
The close brings NEC's assets under management to approximately $5 billion. The fund is already well deployed: 550 MW across 127 assets and eight transactions, with 83% of that capacity operational and roughly 60% contracted. The target is a portfolio approaching 1 GW, backed by a proprietary pipeline of 18 GW across OECD markets.
Agri-PV in Italy
The most recent acquisition illustrates the fund's orientation, namely a 73 MW agrivoltaic project under construction in central-south Italy, the largest AgriPV transaction in the strategy and one of the largest such projects currently in construction in the country.
"Achieving this outcome in a more challenging fundraising environment is a strong endorsement of NEC's specialist solar and BESS investment platform," said Ross Grier, Chief Investment Officer. The fund is classified as Article 9 under the EU SFDR.
NextPower V ESG makes largest agri-PV acquisition in Italy
For European solar investors, the news is an encouraging indication of institutional appetite: pension capital, including from outside Europe, is still moving into contracted OECD solar infrastructure, and NEC's ability to exceed its $750 million predecessor fund with this raise suggests the asset class has not lost its footing despite a backdrop of tighter fundraising. (TF)
