Renewable energy-focused NextEnergy Capital said on Tuesday it had raised an initial $480 million for its fifth investment fund focused on solar and battery storage assets across OECD countries.

The first close of its NextPower V ESG strategy included $330 million in direct commitments to the fund and $150 million from investors planning to co-invest alongside it. Investors included Norwegian pension fund KLP, it said in a statement.

NextEnergy said it was in talks with additional investors and intended to do a second close of the fund later in the year, on the way to hitting its target raise of $1.5 billion, with a $2 billion hard cap.

The fund will invest for 10 years and is targeting mid-double-digit returns from projects focused in Europe, North America and Chile, with a pipeline of assets that could produce more than 14 gigawatts of power already identified, it said.

If the full amount is raised and deployed, the fund expects to produce enough clean energy to power the equivalent of up to 750,000 homes per year, NextEnergy said.

"NPV ESG's first close represents an important milestone as the fund secures strong investor support from the get-go," NextEnergy's chief executive and founding partner, Michael Bonte-Friedheim, said.

"Utility-scale solar represents a very large investment opportunity set globally, with total spending in 2023 forecast to reach $382 billion, and we aim to continue to our leadership role in the sector."

(Reporting by Simon Jessop in London; Editing by Matthew Lewis)