US investment management giant BlackRock has appointed Valerie Speth as managing director for its Renewable Power team in Asia-Pacific.
Speth, who will be seated in Singapore, will spearhead investment and portfolio management efforts in Southeast Asia for BlackRock’s current flagship Global Renewable Power strategy and the Climate Finance Partnership (CFP) programme in Asia.
A qualified mechanical engineer, Speth has more than 15 years’ experience in strategy, mergers and acquisitions and operations in the renewable energy space in Europe and APAC. She joins BlackRock from juwi, a global expert in turnkey renewable power projects, where she was the regional director for APAC. She previously led corporate strategy at juwi in Germany with a specialism in the energy sector.
BlackRock’s global head of renewable power, David Giodano said that rapid population growth, rising country income and access to electricity throughout APAC is driving demand for energy creating “unprecedented investment opportunities” for the firm’s clients.
BlackRock’s Global Renewable Power platform has committed US$1 billion over the past five years to more than 60 projects and partner companies in APAC’s leading renewable markets of Australia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
The Global Renewable Power team intends to invest over one-third of the US$4.8 billion raised for current strategy in climate infrastructure assets in APAC.
BlackRock announced on 8 July that the CFP programme will focus on investing in renewable power generation, energy storage solutions as well as the development of transportation infrastructure such as facilities for low-emission vehicles in congested areas. The fund is aiming to raise at least US$500 million.
