Italian green energy fund set-up

A new fund for the renewable energy sector has been set up in Italy. Atmos, the first Italian initiative fully dedicated to this investment area, has launched with E9m of capital. The fund target is E50m.

Behind the initiative are Fondamenta, a private equity fund-of-funds, managed by State Street Global Investments, and IGP Ambiente, an investment group which specialises in sustainable development. Also investing in Atmos are Italmobiliare, a cement business, Bolla, a company in the gas distribution sector, Zambon, a pharmaceutical company, and the investment group Hermes Investimenti.

The board of directors consists of Rolando Polli (Atmos president), Giuseppe Campanella (Atmos MD and State Street Global Investments MD), Achille Colombo (Gruppo Falck board member), Erich Stock (director of State Street Global Advisory, UK and MD of the Italian branch) and Piero Gavazzi (IGP Ambiente).

The renewable energy market in Italy will exceed E4bn in revenues by 2010, with more than E10bn invested. The Italian energy efficiency market looks set to reach E2bn in revenues by 2006. The clean tech market, which includes clean energy, transportation, waste and water management, building efficiency, emission curbing and environment monitoring, is attracting private equity investments worldwide. Transactions in clean energy investment, for example, exceeded E2.2bn in 2001-2004, with more than E1bn in 2004.