- Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) to provide $150m of launch funding
- North Star will be the first investment made through BII’s British Climate Partners (BCP) initiative
- BCP is expected to mobilise £3.5 billion of private capital over the lifetime of its investments, taking the total of its expected commitments over the period to £4.6 billion.
LONDON, UK, 19 May 2026: British International Investment, the UK’s impact investor and development finance institution, today announced the launch of North Star, a $300 million platform created to accelerate the development of renewable power projects in India.
BII said it would commit $150 million, with a further $150 million of private capital provided by the Danish global fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), through its Growth Markets Fund II (GMF II).
The new platform to be called North Star, is the first investment made through British Climate Partners, a £1.1 billion climate finance initiative launched by BII last month as part of its new five-year strategy.
It was also announced today that BCP is expected to mobilise £3.5 billion of private capital over the lifetime of its investments, taking the total of its expected commitments over the period to £4.6 billion. BCP is designed to mobilise large‑scale institutional capital into climate solutions across fast-growing and coal-dependent economies in Asia, including India, as well as the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and other South-East Asian countries.
The launch of North Star took place at the Global Partnerships Conference. The event in London, co-hosted by the UK, South Africa, BII and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, will be attended by over 600 leaders from across governments, international organisations, philanthropy, investors, technology and civil society – to bring together new voices, new ideas and new partnerships.
Although renewable energy tenders have expanded rapidly in India, many developers lack the development capacity and capital required to bring projects through to construction and operation. North Star is specifically designed to address these constraints and accelerate projects to scale, while crowding in additional private capital. India is planning to more than triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, but needs to fill a $160 billion per year funding gap to meet that ambition.
Minister for Development, Baroness Chapman said: “We have heard what our partners have been calling for. They want to work in partnership with the UK. Countries want to have more control, move beyond aid, attract investment, strengthen their own health and education systems, and take charge of their own futures.
“Traditional development finance alone cannot meet that call, indeed it never could. Nor can it respond to the scale of today’s challenges. We need to bring new ideas and a broader coalition of partners to the table.
“The decisions that come out of this conference will benefit everyone: stronger economies, fewer crises, and a more stable and prosperous future that unlocks opportunity.”
Leslie Maasdorp, the Chief Executive of British International Investment, said: “At the launch of our new strategy last month, we said that BII would focus on mobilising private capital to address acute development needs and combat the climate emergency. North Star is the first embodiment of that commitment.
“By partnering with CIP, we are crowding in private capital from day one of this new platform and I expect further private investment in North Star over the following years.”
Peter Jannik Sjøntoft, Partner in CIP’s Growth Markets Funds, said: “Closing this transaction with British International Investment marks an important milestone in CIP’s continued commitment to India’s renewable energy sector. By establishing a platform alongside BII, we are creating a strong foundation to deploy long‑term capital into scalable, high‑impact renewable investments that contribute meaningfully to India’s decarbonisation and energy security goals.”
North Star will invest across solar, wind and hybrid renewable energy as well as storage projects, which are expected to generate more than 4 million MWh of clean energy annually and avoid about 4 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
BII has a proven track record in investing to support India’s green transition. In 2018, BII invested $100m to launch Ayana, a renewable generation platform. The company attracted hundreds of millions of dollars of private capital before being sold last year for an enterprise value of $2.3 billion.
For further information please contact:
Andrew Murray-Watson / Paschorina Mortty: [email protected]
About British International Investment
British International Investment is the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor. The organisation invests in businesses in developing countries to improve people’s lives and help protect the planet. BII’s work targets the underlying causes of poverty and the climate crisis, helping countries break free from aid dependency for good.
Between 2026-2031, at least 40 per cent of BII’s total new commitments by value will be in climate finance. BII is also a founding member of the 2X Challenge which has raised over $33.6 billion to empower women’s economic development. The company has investments in over 1,600 businesses across 66 countries and total net assets of £9.87 billion. For more information, visit: www.bii.co.uk | watch here. Follow British International Investment on LinkedIn, Bluesky and X.
About Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners
Founded in 2012, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S (CIP) is a global fund manager and leading investor in energy infrastructure. CIP builds value that matters by developing and constructing critical infrastructure projects that shape the future of energy.
Through its funds, CIP invests in power generation (solar and wind), energy storage, transmission and distribution, advanced bioenergy, low-carbon fuels and carbon capture.
With 15 funds currently under management, CIP is trusted by over 200 of the world’s largest and most sophisticated institutions, having raised EUR ~37 billion to date. CIP has projects in more than 30 countries, with presence on the ground through a network of +2,300 professionals.
For more information, visit www.cip.com
About CI Growth Markets Funds
CIP’s Growth Markets Funds (GMF) invests in large-scale and complex greenfield energy infrastructure projects in high-growth, middle-income markets.
With targeted capital deployment of USD 3 bn across 15 select markets in Asia, Latin America and EMEA, GMF II focuses on markets with strong fundamentals for renewable energy infrastructure investments, driven by a combination of high economic and demographic growth, an expanding middle class and accelerating electricity demand.
Launched in 2019, GMF applies CIP’s industrial expertise and local partnerships to directly connect global capital with projects in parts of the world where the need for new, low-cost energy is most acute and the potential for impact is greatest – benefiting local communities, investors, and the global energy transition.
