Sustainable Development Capital, SDCL, is delighted to announce at Built Environment Day for COP 26 in Glasgow that it has now raised over US$2 billion for investment in energy efficiency.

SDCL manages the SDCL Energy Efficiency income Trust plc (SEIT), which is listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, which has grown to over £1bn equity market capitalisation. Through a combination of growth of its private equity infrastructure platform and the IPO of the SDCL EDGE Acquisition Corporation (SEDA) on the New York Stock Exchange in October, SDCL has now raised over US$2 billion for investment in energy efficient projects and companies.

SDCL’s investments involve a large portfolio of on-site generation projects such as roof-top solar, storage, combined heat and power, renewable heat, green gas and industrial energy recycling for a wide cross section of the built environment, from datacentres to schools and hospitals, from small commercial buildings to large district energy networks and major industrial facilities in high emission sectors such as steel and chemicals. These investments reduce the inefficiency of supply, where some two thirds of energy can traditionally be lost in the generation, transmission and distribution process. Other investments involve projects that reduce demand for energy at the point of use, where some 70% of the world’s energy is used in buildings, industry and transport. Solutions include improvements in lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, building energy management systems and controls.

SDCL’s investment portfolio is broadly evenly split between Europe and North America and also includes projects in Asia. SDCL can invest in high quality projects throughout their project development lifecycle, anywhere from concept to long term operations. It can also invest selectively in private companies in what it describes as the EDGE markets, i.e. efficient and decentralised generation of energy, at various stages of growth up to IPO.

Jonathan Maxwell, CEO of SDCL said:

“SDCL has established a strong track record of investment in energy efficiency and has achieved substantial scale – indeed SDCL may now be the largest specialist investor of its kind in energy efficiency and continues to grow.
We are delighted to announce the achievement of this milestone in the growth of our investment in energy efficiency at COP26 because it plays such a crucial role in decarbonisation targets aimed at limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. The International Energy Agency reports that it may be 40% of the answer and yet has attracted less attention from capital markets to date. We think this is now changing rapidly for all the right reasons.

Our investments in energy efficiency demonstrate that energy efficiency is not only one of the largest and most cost-effective sources of greenhouse gas emissions but that it improves resilience and energy security and also reduces costs, improving productivity. It a major source of green growth”.