OSLO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Norway's $1.8 trillion wealth

fund, the world's largest, remains committed to investments in

renewable assets despite recent market setbacks and will seek

opportunities in both the listed and private markets, a senior

fund official said on Thursday.

Renewable energy assets have significantly underperformed in

the market in 2024, with some previous investor favourites such

as Danish offshore wind developer Orsted taking big

hits to their valuations.

The fund's own investments in unlisted renewable energy

infrastructure, which includes stakes in offshore wind farms

with Orsted and in Spanish utility Iberdrola's

renewables portfolio, posted on Wednesday a negative return of

-10% for 2024.

Despite the negative returns recently, the fund remains

committed to renewables, saying it makes sense in the long-term.

"We think that's smart also for a very, very long-term

investor ... All of our investments are dependent on an orderly

energy transition," Harald von Heyden, the fund's global head of

energy and infrastructure told a conference in Oslo.

"You can probably buy renewable assets much cheaper now if

you buy them as shares," he added.

Meanwhile, the volatility in the private market was smaller,

and being active in both the public and in the private markets

should offer some good deals going forward, he added.

The fund plans to do this and has recently restructured to

merge its unlisted and listed renewable energy investment teams.

Since 2020, the fund is allowed by the Norwegian parliament

to invest in unlisted renewable projects, as long as they are in

Europe or in the United States.

"It's been a slow start. We've held back. We've not been

sure that we've been in the right place in (the) cycle," von

Heyden said, but added the fund was seeing more opportunities

now, while the team has grown from 15 to 20 people.

The fund sees offshore wind as still the best strategic

target, as it is Europe-based and offers a large series of

partners.

"But we also want to do deals in the other renewable energy

infrastructure technologies. And enabling technologies such as

grid and storage," von Heyden said.