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Impact investing
Impact report: renewable energy and climate change
Amount invested: $1.6 Billion
SDG alignment
| IMPACT METRIC1 | IMPACT FOR 2019 | EQUIVALENT TO |
|---|---|---|
| CO2-equivalent emissions avoided | 147.8 million metric tons | 32 million cars off the road for one year2 |
| Air pollutants reduced | 10,521 metric tons | |
| Daily riders on new public transit | 980,359 | |
| Energy saved | 30.4 million megawatt-hours (MWh) | 3.6 million homes off the grid for one year2 |
| Renewable energy capacity | 46,964 MW | 15,654 large wind turbines3 |
| Renewable energy production | 506.9 million MWh annualized | 41.4 million homes powered for one year2 |
Examples
Star Energy Geothermal (Wayang Windu) Limited
- Sector
High yield, emerging market corporate bond - Mission
Star Energy Geothermal (Wayang Windu) Limited (Star) owns and operates the Wayang Windu geothermal power plant in Indonesia. This facility has two commercial operating units with gross installed generation capacity totaling 227 megawatts (MW). - Use of proceeds
Star’s business includes a long-term electricity sales contract with Indonesia’s state-owned electric utility provider. To grow its business, Star is exploring the potential expansion of its installed capacity at the Wayang Windu plant. This may lead to the development of a third operating unit at the facility, which would increase total capacity by up to 60 MW, for a total of 287 MW. Development of a third unit will depend on the success of further exploratory drilling and the economic viability of this endeavor. - Measurable impact
In 2019, the Wayang Windu project generated 1,858,635 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity — enough to power 151,642 average U.S. homes while displacing approximately 1,488,767 tons annually of CO2 equivalents, the equivalent of taking 321,639 cars off the road.2
Pattern Energy Group, Inc. (PEGI)
- Sector
High yield corporate bond - Mission
PEGI is an independent power company that owns and operates renewable power projects with stable longterm cash flows, primarily in the U.S., Canada and Chile.
PEGI focuses on acquiring operational and construction-ready power projects from third-party developers, capitalizing on the large, fragmented global renewable energy market. It has ownership interests in 18 wind power projects, including Armow Wind (in Ontario) and Broadview Wind (straddling two counties on the New Mexico-Texas state line).
PEGI’s projects use proven, best-in-class technology and have a total owned capacity of 2,644 megawatts (MW). The company is targeting total owned capacity of 5,000 MW by year-end 2019. - Use of proceeds
This bond represents PEGI’s inaugural issue of public corporate debt. Proceeds are principally for the Broadview acquisition and to repay the revolver borrowings used to help finance the Armow project. - Measurable impact
The projects have renewable capacity of 362 megawatts and in 2019 reduced 1,696,000 metric tons in CO2 -equivalent to taking 366,410 cars off the road2- and 1.1 billion gallons of water saved- equivalent to 1,644 Olympic size swimming pools3
Renewable energy and climate change
Impact objectives
• Increase share of renewable energy in the global energy mix
• Increase energy efficiency
• Improve availability of sustainable transportation
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Increase energy efficiency
• Improve availability of sustainable transportation
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Project type
• New, expanding, or existing renewable energy projects (including hydroelectric, solar and wind)
• Smart grid and other projects designed to make power generation and transmission systems more efficient
• Energy efficiency projects resulting in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
• Smart grid and other projects designed to make power generation and transmission systems more efficient
• Energy efficiency projects resulting in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
Our offices
1 Reporting methodology The Nuveen Responsible Investing team developed this report to provide an indication of the aggregate social and environmental impact created by the projects and organizations financed in part by the Strategy. Given the difficulty of attributing impact in proportion to the size of the Strategy's share of each bond issuance (which ranges from 0.015% to 100%), the data reflect total impact generated by the project, program, or issuer rather than the Strategy's share alone.The report represents bonds that are classified under the Strategy's proprietary impact framework and for which relevant data are available. All impact data are sourced from publicly available issuer disclosures at the bond or project level when possible, or the program or issuer level if not. Metrics selected for each impact theme reflect the information most commonly reported by issuers, and each metric includes data from between 2 and 46 issuers. In cases where the Strategy has a large position in a certain issuer, we prioritize selecting metrics reported by that issuer.
2 https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator
3 Assuming an average utility-scale wind turbine with a 3 megawatt generation capacity.
3 https://www.livestrong.com/article/350103-measurements-for-an-olympic-size-swimming-pool/
A word on risk
Because ESG criteria exclude some securities, investments in ESG-focused products may not be able to take advantage of the same opportunities or market trends as products that do not use such criteria. Investment products in general may be subject to market and other risk factors.
The investment advisory services, strategies and expertise of TIAA Investments, a division of Nuveen, are provided by Teachers Advisors, LLC and TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC. Securities offered through Nuveen Securities, LLC.
2 https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator
3 Assuming an average utility-scale wind turbine with a 3 megawatt generation capacity.
3 https://www.livestrong.com/article/350103-measurements-for-an-olympic-size-swimming-pool/
A word on risk
Because ESG criteria exclude some securities, investments in ESG-focused products may not be able to take advantage of the same opportunities or market trends as products that do not use such criteria. Investment products in general may be subject to market and other risk factors.
The investment advisory services, strategies and expertise of TIAA Investments, a division of Nuveen, are provided by Teachers Advisors, LLC and TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC. Securities offered through Nuveen Securities, LLC.
