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By Clara Denina
LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - The founders of renewablesenergy investor Berkeley Energy have hired U.S. investment bankJP Morgan to evaluate options, including a sale, for thecompany's investment funds, which could be worth around $500million, banking sources said.
Berkeley Energy invests in 30 energy projects across nineemerging markets via three renewables funds, two of which focuson hydro, wind and solar in India and the Philippines and athird on Sub-Saharan Africa.
The funds are likely to be attractive to infrastructure andsovereign wealth funds, seeking to diversify into renewableenergy, and oil and gas companies to try to meet governmentclimate change goals and satisfy calls from investors to reducetheir carbon footprints.
Berkeley Energy was founded in 2007 by ex FreshfieldsBruckhaus Deringer's lawyer Alastair Vere Nicoll and renewableenergy assets investor Tarlochan Singh Kundi.
Berkeley Energy did not respond to requests for comment. JPMorgan declined to comment.
Renewable energy growth is estimated at an annual averagerate of 11 percent between 2015 and 2035, with growth in windand solar capacity up nine-fold from seven percent of totalpower supply today to nearly 40 percent by 2040, energyconsultancy Wood Mackenzie estimates.
Major oil companies, however, have allocated less than threepercent of their budget to renewables since 2016, Wood Mackenziesays, adding that this spend will nudge up in 2019, but not bymuch.
The solar and wind industries make lower returns compared tooil and gas and coal.
Chevron, for example, has a smattering of mostlysmall wind and solar ventures, while Royal Dutch Shelland BP own wind farms in the United States andelectric-car charging stations in Europe.
Sovereign wealth funds and infrastructure firms haveincreased their exposure to renewable energy and pledged to addclimate change considerations into their investment decisions.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has invested in green energycompanies in India and Britain's Green Investment Bank, run byfinancial group Macquarie.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund invests in electriccar maker Tesla and also smaller rival Lucid Motors,and works with SoftBank and others on large-scale solarprojects.(Editing by Jane Merriman)
