The role of long-term investors in infrastructure and energy forms a central tenet of this latest episode of the IJGlobal podcast – Infra Dig – in a far-ranging interview that spans Europe.

IJGlobal content director Angus Leslie Melville speaks with Hamish Lea-Wilson – a partner at Igneo Infrastructure Partners – who plays a key role in the fund manager’s origination and execution.

In a 34-minute podcast, Hamish takes the listener through Igneo’s investment strategy and then delves into examples that showcase this culture.

You can also access this latest episode on Apple Podcasts and through Player FM. It is also available across a host of other platforms.

A good bit of the podcast is dedicated to German utilities company MVV Energie which won the excellence trophy at IJGlobal ESG Awards 2023 for its plan to be “climate positive” by 2035. Judges described the Mannheim company as “a poster child for energy transition in a utility”.

Another winner that discussed is Nordion Energi – this one picking up a trophy at the IJGlobal ESG Awards 2022 – which involved the transition a traditional, natural gas distribution operator to become what some people have described as “the go-to partner” in Sweden’s energy transition.

Nordion Energi owns and operates Sweden’s gas transmission network, as well as both gas and electricity distribution networks in southern and western Sweden. It has set itself a goal to become the first gas grid operator in Europe with 100% green gas, and – to achieve this – it has developed a series of industry-leading initiatives,

Conversation moves on to a focus on Igneo IP’s Finerge renewables platform in the Iberian peninsula which, since 2015, has grown that portfolio from 642MW of attributable capacity to almost 2GW. To help it on the way, earlier this month (April 2024), it acquired from Alfanar a 71MW wind portfolio in Navarra.

The podcast rounds off with a closer look at UK-based enfinium which picked up a trophy for asset performance at the IJInvestor Awards 2022. Igneo recently announced that – through enfinium – it was investing in CCS technology to decarbonise unrecyclable waste and generate more than 90MW of baseload, carbon-negative power.