EQT Infrastructure has begun pre-marketing its long-awaited first energy transition fund with a target of up to USD 4bn, sources said, a move that comes at a time of lower fundraising in the sector overall.

The Swedish manager, which registered EQT Transition Infrastructure SCSp vehicle in Luxembourg this February, has begun talking to limited partners and is expected to formally launch fundraising early next year.

EQT has “not communicated its official target” it hopes to raise for the fund, said one of the sources, adding “the market estimates it hopes to get USD 3bn to USD 4bn of commitments”.

The Stockholm-listed listed company said in its half-year report this year that “preparations are ongoing for a new transition infrastructure strategy”, without clarifying its strategy for the fund. The investor also pointed to its recent recruitment of Enel’s former CEO, Francesco Starace, as a partner who brings “deep experience and expertise in energy and energy-transition related industries”.

Brookfield chose another business world celebrity, former governor of the banks of England and Canada Mark Carney, to showcase its energy transition strategy – which to date has had phenomenal success, raising a record USD 15bn for its first global transition fund and hitting first close for its second transition fund early this year at USD 10bn.

But despite headwinds in favour of energy transition and successes of managers like Brookfield, fundraising for funds in the sector slowed this year. Energy transition funds worldwide that reached final close this year raised a total of USD 6.3bn versus an equivalent figure of USD 11.7bn last year, according to Infralogic data.

EQT Infrastructure has focused on just three strategies – a core fund that closed at USD 3.2bn versus a USD 5bn target, a flagship value-add strategy and its planned energy transition fund, while peers have also raised credit and sector funds as well as other types of vehicles. The Swedish manager’s more focused approach may mean that its LPs are less thinly spread and willing to fund new strategies, such as its energy transition one, sources said.

EQT also has developed considerable global experience in energy transition through investments in its flagship fund, including investing in the likes of UK battery storage company Statera, EV charging infrastructure network operator InstaVolt, and US solar developer Cypress Creek. It has also carried out major take-privates of renewables developers such as OX2 and Tion.

EQT Infrastructure’ peer I Squared Capital launched fundraising for its first energy transition fund in the summer of last year with a USD 2.5bn target, while Stonepeak is reportedly readying the launch of its second global renewables fund with a USD 5bn target.

EQT is also fundraising for its flagship EQT Infrastructure Fund VI, which it expects to close at the EUR 20bn target in the first quarter of 2025, according to its report for the third quarter this year. The fund had fee- generating commitments of EUR 16.9bn at the end of September.

EQT declined to comment.