Singapore-based investment entity to operate renewable energy in Southeast Asia

SINGAPORE, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- A Singapore-based Investment entity established on Tuesday will focus on operating renewable energy projects in the Southeast Asian region, according to a press release issued here Tuesday.

Three Singaporean companies form CleanGrid Partners. The three are WEnergy Global, ICMG, a global management consulting firm focused on achieving sustainable growth with operations in Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai and Silicon Valley, as well as Greenway Grid Global, an Investment company that counts Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company PowerGrid as one of its major shareholders. The three partners will then put up equal shares in the new Investment entity.

The Singaporean company will finance and operate renewable energy projects in the Southeast Asian region. 20 million-U.S. dollar funding has been made available for short term deployment, and the company aims to build a portfolio of electrification projects that will value at close to 100 million U.S. dollars in a time-frame of three to four years.

"WEnergy Global knows that the problem of a lack of access to electricity remains a chronic problem in the region," Atem S. Ramsundersingh, CEO of WEnergy Global said in his press release, adding that "Our new partnership will combine WEnergy Global's on-the-ground knowledge and pioneer's experience in ASEAN with the best-of-breed smart technologies that the likes of TEPCO-PowerGrid already owns."

CleanGrid Partners will attempt to replicate WEnergy Global's project in the island of Palawan, Philippines, in several other places in the region to meet the demand for off-grid and decentralized electrification. The Palawan project is a 14 km micro-grid featuring a hybrid power plant that uses solar and diesel sources.

"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," Ramsundersingh said. Enditem