(Yicai Global) Jan. 24 -- Investment firm IDG Capital and Hong Kong and China Gas, also known as Towngas, plan to set up a CNY10 billion (USD1.6 billion) zero-carbon technology fund, helping China to meet its environmental goals.

The fund, based in Changzhou in China’s eastern Jiangsu province, will mainly invest in solar and wind energy, power batteries, energy storage, smart electrical grids and hydrogen energy as well as carbon trading and management, the Beijing-based venture capital firm said on its official WeChat account today.

The first phase will involve funding of CNY5 billion (USD790 million) and the financing will be supported by the local government as well as financial and strategic investors, IDG said.

Towngas has been operating in the Chinese market since 1994, and it now has 451 projects, including 304 urban gas pipelines supplying over 40 million households and 400,000 industrial and commercial clients. Also, it has been working on smart energy projects for five years, according to Chen Yinglong, its investment head.

IDG was founded in Boston in 1992. It has 20 years of experience in clean energy investment, having put capital into new energy startups such as Xpeng Motors and Nio, the company said.

China aims to hit peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, President Xi Jinping told the United Nations in September 2020.

Editor: Tom Litting