Goldman Sachs sets US$1 billion goal for Japan clean-power bonds

[NEW YORK] Goldman Sachs Group Inc set a target of arranging US$1 billion in bonds to finance clean energy in Japan, focusing initially on solar power.

The Japan Renewable Project Bond Trust plans to reach that target within "the coming few years" and will expand to other renewable energy assets as "opportunities arise," the New York-based investment bank said in a statement on its website Tuesday.

It's part of Goldman's plan announced in 2012 to finance and invest US$40 billion in clean energy globally. The company has reached almost US$27 billion in financings.

The trust will offer renewable energy companies "attractive rates of capital to fund their growth through the capital markets," Toru Inoue, a Goldman vice president in structured finance, said in the statement.

BLOOMBERG