Fund for clean energy created

Singapore-based firms along with Japan’s Tepco group have put up a fund that will support a $100-million package of clean energy projects in Southeast Asia, which will kick off with a microgrid project in the Philippines.

The consortium, which set up CleanGrid Partners Pte. Ltd. as the platform for the fund, includes WEnergy Global Pte. Ltd., ICMG Partners Pte. Ltd., and Greenway Grid Global Pte. Ltd.

One of the main shareholders of Greenway Grid Global is power transmission and distribution giant Tepco PowerGrid Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo Electric Power Co.

CleanGrid has bankrolled $60 million, of which $20 million has been made available for short-term deployment.

In a statement, the group said CleanGrid intended to build within three to four years a portfolio of microgrid projects in the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar.

The first project that CleanGrid will operate is a microgrid initiative that will support electrification efforts in Palawan.

CleanGrid is aiming at enabling a rapid replication of the Palawan project in several other places in Southeast Asia to meet the demand for off-grid and decentralized electrification.

In Singapore, they intend to engage in smart microgrids at industrial-estate level.

At Barangay Cabayugan, Puerto Princesa City, WEnergy is involved in the development of a 2.4-megawatt, 14-kilometer microgrid project that features a solar power plant with storage as well as diesel generators.

According to WEnergy, the design of the hybrid facility was determined by the conditions of the area being classified as a nature reserve to protect the catchment area of the Puerto Princesa Underground River.