Infrastructure plays a crucial role in development and serves as the bedrock of any economy. It provides essential services, such as power and transport, to companies and communities, and enables businesses to operate and grow more effectively. It’s vital to improving people’s lives – which is why infrastructure is one of our priority sectors.
In 2024, we committed £509.3 million to infrastructure projects. A large part of this was in power infrastructure. You can find out more about our recent renewable energy infrastructure investments in the ‘Bold about the planet’ section and in the examples below.
As well as utility-scale renewable infrastructure, we continue to invest in electricity transmission. This is crucial for delivering power from where it’s generated to where it’s needed, ensuring a reliable and stable supply of electricity to homes, businesses and industries. In India, we’ve partnered with Norfund and IndiGrid to form a new platform, EnerGrid, which will focus on developing transmission and battery energy storage system projects (see case study).
Over the year, infrastructure businesses already in our portfolio continued to create impact. Our energy investments produced more than 47 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy, which is equivalent to 16 per cent of the total electricity generated in the UK in 2024. This slight reduction is driven by a fall in production in existing non-renewable assets.
Beyond energy, we also invest in other forms of infrastructure. For example, in 2024 we announced our commitment to invest up to $35 million towards the development of a new container port in the DRC. It forms an extension of our partnership with DP World that commenced with the modernisation and expansion of ports in Senegal, Egypt and Somaliland.
The Port of Banana in the DRC will be the country’s first deepwater container port. By enhancing the DRC’s direct access to international markets, it will unlock the country’s international trading potential for the benefit of millions of its people. The new port development is expected to enable the creation of approximately 85,000 jobs, $1.12 billion in additional trade and $429 million in increased economic output annually.
Our innovative funding approach is supporting independent sustainable energy trading while giving South Africa more reliable electricity.
clean energy will be added to South Africa’s grid
Investment name: Etana Energy
Location: South Africa
Investment type: Catalyst Portfolio
Our investment is expanding Tanzania’s renewable energy supply – connecting thousands of homes and businesses to the grid for the first time.
renewable energy will be added to the national grid in Tanzania
Investment name: Rift Valley Energy
Location: Tanzania
Investment type: Growth Portfolio
