Trafigura Group Pte Ltd, Geneva, Switzerland, one of the world’s leading independent commodity trading companies, has formed a new company to invest in a series of solar, wind and power storage projects globally.
The new company, Nala Renewables, has an ambitious target to build a portfolio of renewable energy projects with a cumulative capacity of two gigawatts to be operating, in construction or in late stage development, within the next five years. Nala Renewables is a joint venture with global institutional fund manager IFM Investors, extending the two firms’ existing relationship through the Impala Terminals joint venture, created in 2018.
Nala Renewables will identify, build and operate projects that produce renewable energy in markets in which Trafigura already operates – primarily in Europe, Asia and certain emerging markets. In addition to developing greenfield projects, the company will selectively pursue opportunities to acquire assets or companies at varying stages of development that fit the investment profile of the portfolio.
The business will also build and operate projects adjacent to the Trafigura Group’s mining, port and smelting infrastructure assets worldwide and the renewable energy generated will be used to power some of those facilities. Trafigura will contribute around 250 MW of projects under early stage development to the venture and provide a long-term offtake agreement to some of the renewable assets, on market terms.
“As highly experienced infrastructure investors, IFM Investors are an excellent partner for this ambitious and timely endeavour,” said Jeremy Weir, Executive Chairman and CEO of Trafigura. “The energy transition is driving the need, but also provides the opportunity to make strategic, long-term investments in renewable energy. The investments will provide synergies for our new Power and Renewables trading division which is going to become a significant pillar of our trading activity over the next few years and beyond and builds on our capabilities and understanding of other energy markets.”
“We look forward to continuing the successful partnership with Trafigura and tackling the energy transition together,” said Kyle Mangini, Global Head of Infrastructure at IFM. “This joint venture is an important step in our strategy to reduce the carbon impact of our investments.”
An initial team of fifteen professionals is being recruited, supported by renewables expertise from Trafigura and IFM Investors, with the expectation that the team will grow as the portfolio requirements evolve.
About Trafigura
Founded in 1993, Trafigura is one of the largest physical commodities trading groups in the world. Trafigura sources, stores, transports and delivers a range of raw materials (including oil and refined products and metals and minerals) to clients around the world. The trading business is supported by industrial and financial assets, including a majority ownership of global zinc and lead producer Nyrstar which has mining, smelting and other operations located in Europe, Americas and Australia; a significant shareholding in global oil products storage and distribution company Puma Energy; global terminals, warehousing and logistics operator Impala Terminals; Trafigura’s Mining Group; and Galena Asset Management. The Company is owned by around 700 of its 8,000 employees who work in 80 offices in 41 countries around the world. Trafigura has achieved substantial growth over recent years, growing revenue from USD12 billion in 2003 to USD171.5 billion in 2019. The Group has been connecting its customers to the global economy for more than two decades, growing prosperity by advancing trade.
About IFM Investors
IFM Investors is a global investment management firm with USD108 billion in funds under management on behalf of 470 institutional investors, across four asset classes: infrastructure, private equity, debt and listed equities. IFM’s global infrastructure team comprises more than 100 investment professionals located in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia who have extensive transactional, portfolio management, financial and operational expertise. IFM manages over USD44 billion in infrastructure equity globally and the firm is one of the largest infrastructure managers in the world. IFM Investors has offices in nine locations; Melbourne, Sydney, New York, London, Berlin, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Zurich.
About Impala Terminals
In December 2018, a 50:50 joint venture was created between Trafigura and global fund manager IFM Investors to own and operate Impala Terminals’ network of base metals terminal infrastructure in Mexico, Spain and Peru. The joint venture also includes refined products storage, distribution and fluvial operations in Paraguay and a Swiss-based operation, which provides global freight forwarding and multimodal transportation services in the African copperbelt.