Singapore’s Temasek teams up with BlackRock and QIA in $460m sustainable battery push
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek is teaming up with the Qatar Investment Authority and investment giant BlackRock to make a push into the sustainable battery space.
Temasek and BlackRock have launched a joint venture called Decarbonization Partners (DP), which has around $1 billion in capital.
DP now plans to invest $460 million in Ascend Elements, a U.S.-based manufacturer of sustainable battery materials for electric vehicles.
The Qatar Investment Authority has joined the investment with an undisclosed amount but this publication understands the Qatari sovereign wealth fund is not part of the joint venture.
“Decarbonization Partners focuses on investing in next-generation private companies that support the acceleration of decarbonization and the transition to a net-zero economy,” Temasek explained to Net Zero Investor.
As part of the investment, a representative of Decarbonization Partners will join Ascend Elements’ board of directors, the spokesperson added.
He stressed this investment is “one of the largest climate tech equity private placements in the U.S. so far this year.”
The electrification of the global economy is projected to increase lithium-ion demand over 5 times by 2030, the spokesperson said, singling out a McKinsey report from January which said that concluded that electronification efforts will require a massive scaleup of the battery supply chain and raw material supply.
In addition, DP pointed out that “efficient recycling of end-of-life batteries and scrap material is critical to accelerating the electrification of the transportation sector,” adding that Ascend Elements’ technology aims to address both these decarbonization issues.
In addition to Ascend Elements, DP has invested in MycoWorks, a manufacturer of mycelium materials used as an alternative to animal and fossil fuel-based synthetic leather, Group14, a provider of battery silicon anode material, Monolith, a company that produces clean hydrogen, carbon black and ammonia; as well as Carbon Direct, a carbon management services provider and software platform.
Temasek is Singapore’s state-owned sovereign wealth fund (SWF) which uses federal reserves to make investments in Singapore, China, and North America, as well as Europe and some emerging economies. In March of this year, it held a global portfolio with an estimated value of around $287 billion.
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, set up in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In September 2023, the QIA had an estimated $475 billion of assets.
