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Dutch pension funds happy to invest billions in energy transition

The Netherlands' 5 biggest pension funds on Wednesday stated they were willing to invest billions in the nation's energy shift and to help support financial investment in the electrical power grid.

In a letter, resolved to the political celebrations that are attempting to form the nation's next federal government, the funds offered their joint financial firepower and expertise to assist financing electrical power grid expansion and sustainable heating jobs in the euro zone's 5th largest economy.

We wish to make a bigger effect, we can and wish to invest more in the Dutch energy shift, the funds, with a total of around 900 billion euros ($ 975 billion) in assets, stated in the letter released on Wednesday.

The funds said electrical energy scarcities would run the risk of jeopardising our business climate and environment objectives, will paralyze building and will keep us depending on imported fossil fuels.

They required reliable and ambitious policies from a new government for the energy shift and better public/private cooperation to fund projects.

The funds did not specify exactly how much they wanted to invest.

Among the problems the new federal government will have to tackle is the blockage on the Dutch electrical power grid, which is having a hard time to cope with a quickly increasing need for electrical energy and a surge in the supply of solar power.

Dutch state-owned electrical power grid operator TenneT in November stated it will need to double its financial investments in the next years to meet demand.

Union talks in the Netherlands have dragged out considering that the election victory of far ideal leader Geert Wilders' PVV party in November last year.

Wilders and his 3 prospective union partners resumed talks this month after weeks of dead stop, however an agreement on a federal government pact is not yet in sight.

Earlier this month, ABP, the Netherlands' biggest pension fund, stated it would cut investments with a large climate effect, while targeting more money to business and jobs that assist to improve society and the environment.

(source: Reuters)