Greenbacker Capital Management and (more to the point) its vehicle – Greenbacker Development Opportunities Fund – was chosen by IJGlobal’s judges to win the investor award for North America.

The independent panel of judges on IJGlobal ESG Awards 2024 singled out Greenbacker Development Opportunities Fund (GDEV) – 100% focused on sustainable infrastructure investing – to be recognised for its impressive achievements.

One of the judges said of Greenbacker: “While all its activity seems to be focused on energy transition, it is clear that the organisation has a mission to impact on a societal level through this activity.”

According to the submission, GDEV has a mantra: “Making energy transition investment more equitable, accessible and sustainable is at the heart of GDEV’s mission as it continues to invest in and build the infrastructure platforms of the future – while catalysing impact throughout the entire investment lifespan.”

GDEV’s ESG mission starts at home. It is dedicated to uplifting under-represented voices and – to that end – its team is one-third women and a majority hails from diverse backgrounds.

The submission states: “For 11 years, the mission-driven team has been backing companies operationalising our aging infrastructure and scaling availability and access to renewables, from solar to fuels, to benefit wider society.

“Today, GDEV has 2,740 low-carbon projects spanning renewable power generation, grid services, mobility, and more – including active projects across 45 US states and 3 Canadian provinces.

“In the past year, GDEV vowed to focus more intently on measurement and impact reporting, making great strides. For more seamless collaboration between investors and innovators, GDEV recently partnered with Metric ESG to better track impact metrics internally and across its portfolio with quarter-over-quarter data.

“GDEV also recently implemented principles outlined by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to bolster more informed reporting of climate-related financial information.

“Looking ahead, GDEV will continue expanding its scope of future reporting to foster actionable impacts on communities across the country.”

Greenbacker highlights 3 transactions from over the judging period that best exemplify its direction of travel:

• Relevate Power – co-led equity raise for US hydropower redeveloper
• Lightshift Energy – investment
• Nexus PMG – reduction on fossil fuel reliance

Hydropower redeveloper Relevate Power – with 22 active projects – aims to triple its footprint by the end of 2024. GDEV’s strategic equity raise will fuel Relevate’s growth as the company scales from 30MW to more than 200MW of built AUM and deploys technology to make their hydro plants more efficient while working closely with community members along the way.

With the financial backing of GDEV, utility-scale battery solar storage company Lightshift Energy can abate more than 38,000 metric tons of CO2 per year by efficiently charging and dispatching stored electricity during hours when it is needed the most. With more than 20 battery projects under contract to date and a pipeline in excess of 4GW, Lightshift is emerging as a key force behind America’s energy transition.

Lighshift’s 10.5MW battery facility in Danville, Virginia, has been operational since 2022 and is expected to save the city of Danville more than $40 million, providing a significant boost to local ratepayers while supporting broader grid reliability. With the expertise of GDEV, Lightshift can now replicate this level of impact across its geographically diverse pipeline.