Bill Gates-Led Clean Energy Project Surpasses 1.2 Trillion Won in Fundraising

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] More than $1 billion (approximately 1.2 trillion KRW) has been raised in funding for a clean energy project led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

According to major foreign media on the 20th, BlackRock's charitable foundation, a global asset management firm, has pledged to invest $100 million (approximately 120 billion KRW) over five years in the Breakthrough Energy Catalyst program. The world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal and American Airlines Group are also expected to invest $100 million.

In addition, major corporations such as Microsoft, General Motors, Bank of America, and Boston Consulting Group have participated as investors.

The Breakthrough Energy Catalyst is a public-private partnership investment project established by Bill Gates to accelerate the commercialization and improve the cost competitiveness of four major solutions related to the climate crisis. The main investment areas are ▲green hydrogen ▲sustainable aviation fuel ▲long-term energy storage ▲carbon capture.

Last month, Bill Gates promised an investment of $1.5 billion (approximately 1.75 trillion KRW) on the condition that the government passes an infrastructure budget for climate change response.

BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink said, "We are not doing this to make money," adding, "We are doing it to plant the seeds of these ideas and accelerate them quickly."

Bill Gates introduced that the project will start next year, recruiting about 20 companies as key partners and plans to increase private capital to $3 billion (approximately 3.6 trillion KRW).