BrazilRenewable energy investment partnership targets projects in ASEAN
A new $60 million Singapore-based investment entity has been formed to pursue renewable energy projects in Southeast Asia, with projects in the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar first in line.
To be based in Singapore, a trio of firms has announced the formation of CleanGrid Partners – a $60 million investment entity which will finance and operate renewable energy projects in Southeast Asia, with $20 million available for short term deployment and plans to build and manage a $100 million microgrid project portfolio in the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar within the next three to four years.
The companies which have come together on the new enterprise as equal shareholders include Singapore’s WEnergy Global, which has previously taken on several public and private sector clean electrification projects in the region, Greenway Grid Global, an investment company also based in Singapore and which counts Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company as a major shareholder, and ICMG Partners – a global management consulting firm.
Founded by Hitoshi Funahashi in 2000, and with decade-long ex-McKinsey staffer Fumihiro Ohba as its Head of Consulting, ICMG has operations in Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai, India and California, providing a range of business support and management services with a focus on sustainable growth – from intellectual capital management and corporate innovation to new business creation and strategy execution.
With respect to the freshly announced CleanGrid Partners enterprise, IMCG aims to leverage its international resources and network to bring in innovative technologies and new corporate leaders and partners operating in a variety of sectors from around the world – using new business models and structures in an effort to address regional and global challenges and enhance electrification projects throughout Asia.
“We believe that investors, development and commercial banks and technology manufacturers worldwide must address the challenge to electrify the one billion people on our planet who have no or little access to electricity – of which over 100 million people live in Southeast Asia,” said ICMG Director Gen Funahashi, who came to ICMG via the M&A wing of Deloitte. “We can make an impact by leveraging on the best available intellectual capital and transforming the management mindset of companies and governments to bring innovative clean energy solutions to this part of the world.”
Already, CleanGrid partners has a microgrid project by WEnergy Global underway in the Western Philippines island of Palawan, with several other projects in the Philippine, Indonesia and Myanmar said to be in the pipeline. CleanGrid states its aim is for a rapid replication of the Palawan project to meet the growing demand for off-grid and decentralised electrification across Southeast Asia, including through smart micro-grids at industrial estate level in Singapore.
Referring to the issue of limited access to electricity in ASEAN and the approach of the new partnership, WEnergy Global CEO Atem Ramsundersingh said; “The near-term solution that delivers on immediate on-the-ground benefits is to build, own and operate smart micro-grids for off-grid electrification, which most multilateral agencies, investment companies and mega power companies are reluctant to embark on.”
