A new international billion-dollar fund dedicated to funding research within green energy technology could benefit Danish companies in the future.

There’s a good chance that Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) – which consists of 20 investors from around the world, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates – will look towards Danish greentech solutions, according to several Danish experts.

“Looking at what the fund wants to support, it’s a fantastic opportunity for Danish companies,” said Thea Larsen, the head of the public grant scheme for the energy arena, EUDP.

“It matches a lot of areas in which Denmark has a position of strength, such as bio-energy, wind energy, district heating and smart-energy solutions.”

Larsen went on to maintain that BEV is in a position to support projects that public schemes like EUDP can only take part of the way.

Troels Ranis, a director with the Danish confederation of industry Dansk Industri (DI), concurred and pointed to the significant fall in public and private investment in energy projects in Denmark since 2015.

“There is a need for more finances from the public and private sectors in terms of energy research,” said Ranis. “The new fund can hopefully help fill some of this vacuum.”