The $20 billion New Mexico State Investment Council has committed $50 million to BlackRock Global Renewable Power Fund II, according to Charles Wollmann, director of communications.
BlackRock Global Renewable Power Fund II is an infrastructure fund that will invest in utility-scale wind and solar projects. The fund’s portfolio is expected to be roughly 85 percent solar and 15 percent wind, with about a third of the projects being in the construction phase. About 60 percent of the portfolio will be invested in the United States, with the rest in Europe and Canada.
The fund has also received commitments from the $13 billion Orange County (Calif.) Employees Retirement System and the $85 billion Minnesota State Board of Investment.
The fund, which opened in 2015, has raised $601 million so far and seeks to raise $1 billion in total equity commitments. A target final close date has not been set.
Earlier this year, BlackRock’s Larry Fink urged that the United States should privatize critical infrastructure. Fink explained that federal spending cannot fulfill the country’s investment needs, and cited, for an example, that U.S. airports, which, in contrast to those in the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries, are almost all publicly owned. His comments came after the Trump administration considered how to implement a $1 trillion infrastructure investment plan.