Climate solutions investor Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (HASI) and global investment firm KKR have agreed to establish the CarbonCount Holdings 1 (CCH1) fund, which will invest up to US$2 billion – with each firm commiting US$1 billion – in climate positive projects and clean energy assets across the United States over the next 18 months.

HASI will source the investments for and manage CCH1, remain the interface with its clients and measure the avoided emissions of all investments in CCH1 using its CarbonCount scoring tool. These investments will be consistent with HASI’s existing investment strategy, which is focused on behind-the-meter, grid-connected, renewable natural gas and transport projects.

At close, CCH1 will be seeded with assets representing approximately 10% of the up to US$2 billion committed. Morgan Stanley acted as the financial adviser for KKR, and Lazard, as financial adviser for HASI.

“Our strategic partnership with KKR perfectly aligns with our Climate Clients Assets strategy, enabling us to capitalize on our ambitious pipeline of opportunities and scale our business,” says Jeffrey A. Lipson, HASI’s president and CEO.

Marc Pangburn, the company’s CFO, states: “CCH1 represents a significant milestone in our objective to migrate to a more capital light model and reduce reliance on public equity markets for growth. This transaction further increases the resilient, non-cyclical nature of our business.”

Cecilio Velasco, managing director of KKR’s infrastructure team, adds: “HASI has built an impressive portfolio of sustainable infrastructure projects through strategic partnerships, and their pipeline of future opportunities is highly complementary to our existing clean energy investing strategy.”