Blockchain Firm Ripple Announces $44 Million Clean Energy Fund Investment With Nelnet

Ripple, a blockchain technology company that acts as both a cryptocurrency and a digital payment network for financial transactions, has announced a $44 million clean energy fund investment with Nelnet Renewable Energy.

According to an official press release, the joint investment, a larger part of which came from Ripple, will fund solar energy projects throughout the U.S. in support of the transition to a cleaner and more stable energy future.

Ken Weber, Head of Social Impact at Ripple said: “Guaranteeing a clean energy future is a major priority across every industry, not only to drive future economic growth but also to ensure a more sustainable world. As the adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain continues to grow, it’s evident that the technology will underpin our future financial systems.” He added that Ripple was excited to collaborate with Nelnet as it pursued its “commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of financial services globally and to deliver on the promise of a carbon-negative cryptocurrency industry.” The solar projects financed by the Ripple–Nelnet Renewable Energy Fund are estimated to offset over 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide over 35 years, which is the equivalent amount of CO2 emissions from consuming 154 million gallons of gasoline.

Nelnet and its co-investors are excited about their partnership with Ripple, and are proud of their part in transitioning the country to cleaner and more reliable energy sources. “We are thrilled to have a best-in-class investor platform that enables us to work with investors like Ripple to further our effort toward advancing clean energy generation within the United States,” Scott Gubbels, Executive Director of Nelnet Renewable Energy said. “Investments like these help create jobs, provide cost-competitive energy to the market, and promote sustainability for years to come,” he added.

While Nelnet focuses on offering educational services, technology solutions, professional services, telecommunications, and asset management, the company’s Renewable Energy brand is the company’s renewable energy investment, management, and development business. It is a leading tax equity investor and asset manager in distributed generation solar projects. In March 2021, Nelnet earned an E1 ESG rating from S&P Global Ratings on one of their earlier clean energy funds, receiving high scores on transparency, environment and governance. E1 is the highest possible ESG rating in the S&P Global rating system and likely marks the first of many for Nelnet’s clean energy funds.

The partnership with Nelnet is Ripple’s latest initiative to help build a carbon-neutral future for global finance. Last year, Ripple partnered with Energy Web and the Rocky Mountain Institute to decarbonize the XRP Ledger, the first major global blockchain to do so. The firm is also part of the Crypto Climate Accord —a private sector-led initiative focused on decarbonizing cryptocurrencies and making the crypto industry 100 percent renewable by 2030.

Ripple is the creator of the XPR token, which it uses in its products to facilitate quick conversion between different currencies. The XRP token is trading at $1.08 as of the time of this writing.