London, November 2024

On November 13th, Asper hosted its annual Investor Day in London—a cornerstone event in our calendar that offers a platform for engagement, insight sharing, and reflections on the journey of sustainable infrastructure investing.
This year’s Investor Day brought together Asper’s network of institutional investors, fostering a dynamic exchange of ideas and updates on Asper’s platforms as well as the evolving landscape of energy transition investments. The day featured presentations from our board, platform leads and an expert guest speaker, complemented by interactive focus sessions for each of Asper’s vehicles: Duke, Dorothea, Columba, and Iona.

Market Insights

Asper’s plenary session explored the dynamic landscape of the energy transition, using the Newton’s cradle as a metaphor to illustrate the transmission and conservation of energy. The fundamental driver of this transition has historically been net zero and climate change, which set in motion policies that influence the industry and, ultimately, the financial sector. However, net zero is no longer the sole driver.  The presentation highlighted three additional emerging drivers reshaping the energy landscape.

  • Electrification has emerged as one of the significant forces, reversing the long-term decline in electricity demand in the West. This structural change is expected to increase electricity consumption by up to 50% by 2030, driven by sectors such as heating, industry, transport, and data centers. The rise of data centers, in particular, is boosting the availability of waste heat, which can be harnessed and utilised more efficiently through electrification and heat pumps.
  • Secondly, we delved into the importance of security of supply, especially in the wake of geopolitical events like the Russian conflicts, which triggered strong policy responses to ensure energy security in Europe.
  • Affordability has also become a crucial factor in the energy transition. Green investments are no longer a luxury requiring expensive subsidies. Instead, sustainable energy solutions have become more cost-competitive and accessible. This shift is particularly evident in urban and new efficient buildings, where heat networks, especially those using waste heat, are cheaper. The direction of travel for cities is towards thermal networks, driven by energy efficiency. The economics of sustainable energy are fundamentally solid due to materially greater efficiency. By making the best use of free natural resources in closed loops, sustainable energy can become affordable due to lesser waste.
Overall, the plenary session emphasised the profound implications of these drivers on the energy system. As Europe accelerates towards net-zero emissions, prioritising electrification, affordability, energy efficiency, and security of supply, institutional investors are increasingly drawn to opportunities that balance value creation with positive externalities and  impact. Asper’s strong track record in developing innovative infrastructure platforms and its leadership in delivering sustainable, scalable solutions make it a trusted partner in advancing attractive  and future-ready investments to tackle the energy transition.

Guest Speaker Message
To deepen our perspective, we were privileged to hear from our guest speaker, Morag Watson, Director of Onshore at Scottish Renewables.
Morag Watson
Morag WatsonDirector of Onshore at Scottish Renewables
Morag has worked in climate change and sustainability policy for over 20 years and is Director of Onshore for Scottish Renewables, Scotland’s renewable energy trade body. Since 2019, Morag has led Scottish Renewables’ engagement with the Scottish and UK Governments to grow the renewable energy sector and sustain its position at the forefront of the global clean energy industry.

Morag’s presentation focused on the intrinsic need and opportunity for the UK to accelerate Scotland’s onshore wind infrastructure development. Scotland’s newly formed government has launched a dedicated taskforce to fast-track the development of onshore wind infrastructure, with an ambitious goal of doubling wind generation capacity from 15 GW to 30 GW by 2030. The necessary tools to accelerate this grid capacity growth are currently being implement across Scotland and the UK, and the onshore wind sector deal has made it attractive to build new wind energy infrastructure.

Interested?

Please get in touch at investorrelations@asper-im.com

Luis Quiroga

Head of Investor Relations

luis.quiroga@asper-im.com

Luis co-founded Asper in 2016 with Luigi and Emma, with whom he had worked at HgCapital since 2008.

At Asper, Luis is responsible for relations with Asper’s clients and leads Asper’s business development fundraising.  Luis also remains involved in origination and execution of new investments, leveraging on his over 15 years of experience in energy investments.  Luis is a member of Asper’s Investment Committee, Valuation Committee and the Sustainability Committee. An expert in Energy Transition policy advising think-tanks and research institutes, Luis also oversees Asper’s regulatory coverage.

Luis started his career with The Boston Consulting Group (Munich and Madrid) before joining Credit Suisse’s European Energy Investment Banking Team.  Luis holds a Master of Science in Foreign Affairs (Fulbright Scholar) from Georgetown University and a joint degree in Law and in Business Administration from ICADE Madrid.  He is fluent in English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.

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