Border to Coast Commits £40 Million to Supercharge UK Clean Energy Projects

In a strategic double-down on the UK's clean energy and biotech future, the Border to Coast Pensions Partnership has pledged £80 million in fresh capital, split evenly between life sciences infrastructure and renewable energy development. The investment underscores the growing momentum behind institutional capital, which is driving long-term, impact-oriented returns on home soil.

A titan in the UK pensions landscape, Border to Coast oversees £52.3 billion in assets on behalf of 11 local government pension funds. This latest deployment flows through its dedicated UK Opportunities portfolio, which recently saw an additional £2.5 billion in commitments as of 1 April, pushing the total portfolio value to £18 billion.

Half of the allocation—£40 million—will support the UBS UK Life Sciences Property strategy, a vehicle managed by UBS Asset Management’s Real Estate & Private Markets division. The plan, launched in 2022, champions a “build-to-core” development approach, zeroing in on state-of-the-art life sciences facilities—specifically those adhering to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.

Already, the fund has secured prime assets within the UK’s so-called “Golden Triangle”—the innovation corridor linking Oxford, Cambridge, and London—where demand for biotech-ready space continues to surge amid global competition for research breakthroughs and pharma manufacturing scale.

The remaining £40 million goes into the Quinbrook Renewables Impact Fund II (QRIF II), a sustainability-focused investment strategy with bold ambitions. The Mallard Pass solar farm is headlining the projects in scope—a 2,000-acre mega-development straddling the Rutland-Lincolnshire border, projected to power over 92,000 UK households across a 30-year lifespan.

But the ambition doesn’t end there.

QRIF II is also targeting investments in battery energy storage systems, a critical pillar for grid resilience, and clean transport infrastructure, including the electrification of commercial vehicle fleets and the expansion of public EV charging networks—both cornerstones of the UK’s path to net zero.

Joe McDonnell, CIO of Border to Coast, said, “With the support of our partner funds, we have continued to leverage our expertise and deep relationships with the industry to secure strong investment opportunities.

“The UK opportunities strategy offers investments that both deliver good risk-adjusted returns over the long run with the added benefit of improving the infrastructure of the UK. That’s additional value that members can enjoy in addition to returns.”