Climate Change Capital plans $732M for Chinese cleantech

London-based investment firm Climate Change Capital announced that it plans to invest in China for the first time, setting aside RMB 5 billion ($732 million USD) to take advantage of deals during the economic downturn.

The funding, expected during the next three years, is expected to go to environmental projects, such as industrial waste management and clean technology.

Also during that time, Climate Change Capital plans to establish a yuan-dominated fund.

The company plans to capitalize on companies' difficulties securing capital from other sources.

In September 2007, the company closed a $271.5 million fund for  high growth areas of cleantech in Europe with its Climate Change Capital Private Equity Fund (see Climate Change Capital closes $271.5M fund). In 2006, Climate Change Capital closed a $1.09 billion fund, which the company said was the world's largest private-sector carbon fund at the time.

In July, Climate Change Capital participated in a $134 million round for Berlin-based thin-film developer Sulfurcell Solartechnik (see Thin film pulls in a crowd), led by Intel Capital, which made its first Chinese investments in October (see Intel puts more cash into cleantech).