Renewable energy sources
represent relatively new but significant investment
diversification, and one Canadian life insurer Manulife Financial
is backing to the full.
In its latest involvement in
the industry, Manulife has completed a financing arrangement for
renewable energy specialist International Power Canada, for the
construction of a 48.6 megawatt (MW) wind farm in
Ontario.
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The arrangement was
undertaken by a syndicate of Canadian life insurers led by
Manulife, and has provided total funding of C$117m ($225m) for a
term of about 21 years. As part of the syndicate Manulife itself
invested C$60m.
This wind farm financing is
one of six that Manulife expects to close in 2010 in North America,
and anticipates following this up by completing similar renewable
power project financings in 2011.
In the past five years,
Manulife has arranged C$1.8bn and provided C$840m in financing for
13 renewable energy projects in Canada.
Canadian insurers are not
alone in their backing of renewable energy as an alternative
investment area. Among others are European insurer Allianz which
has since 2005 followed a strategy of direct investment in wind
farms. According to the insurer, it owns wind farms with a total
capacity of 200MW.
