New Zealand teams up with BlackRock for $1.2bn net zero infrastructure fund

The government of New Zealand has selected U.S. investment giant BlackRock to launch a new NZ$2 billion (about $1.2 billion) climate infrastructure vehicle to invest in solar, wind, green hydrogen and battery storage technology projects across the country.

"We are taking an important step with the launch of a New Zealand-focused strategy that will target a raise of NZ$2 billion for investment in the country’s climate infrastructure," Larry Fink, the chairman and chief executive of BlackRock announced earlier today.

"This is the largest single-country low-carbon transition investment initiative BlackRock has created to date," Fink said.

The investment veteran stressed that the new fund will enable New Zealand companies to access "greater pools of capital to build out climate infrastructure across the country’s energy system." 

New Zealand’s electricity sector is already heavily dominated by renewable energy, which currently accounts for 80% of all energy, but the country's government earlier set a target for it to be 100% clean within the next few years. Much of the country's net zero efforts will now focus on decarbonising other sectors such as transport and industry, according to the International Energy Agency.

No launch date or further details were made public but the BlackRock boss went on to say that "as we approach COP28 at the end of this year, the world is looking for models of cooperation between the private and public sectors to ensure an orderly, just and fair energy transition," highlighting the new partnership between the government of New Zealand and BlackRock as a good example of such partnerships.

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