SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 22 January 2019 - Singapore's WEnergy Global Pte Ltd, ICMG Partners Pte Ltd and Greenway Grid Global (GGG) Pte Ltd, an investment company with Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company PowerGrid Inc (TEPCO-PG) as one of the major shareholders, said today that they have formed a Singapore-based investment entity of US$60 million.^[1]

From (L) Atem Ramsundersingh, CEO of WEnergy Global; Shinichi Imai, TEPCO PowerGrid's MD of Int'l Business Development Unit; Gen Funahashi, ICMG Director

This entity will finance and operate renewable energy projects in Southeast Asia, of which US$20 million has been made available for short term deployment.

This newly formed Singapore company, CleanGrid Partners Pte Ltd, aims to build and manage a portfolio of electrification projects valued at about US$100 million within three to four years.

WEnergy Global, one of the principal shareholders of the new company, has already set the stage by being an initiator for a microgrid project in Palawan in the Philippines, to be part of this electrification plan.  

CleanGrid Partners Pte Ltd has three equal shareholders:

• WEnergy Global Pte. Ltd, a Singapore headquartered company that has taken on several public and private sector clean electrification projects in the region.
• ICMG Partners Pte. Ltd., a global management consulting firm with operations in Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai and Silicon Valley, focused on achieving sustainable growth through intellectual capital management including corporate leadership development, corporate innovation and new business creation; and
• Greenway Grid Global Pte Ltd., based in Singapore and with TEPCO PowerGrid Inc. as one its main shareholders, aims to promote happiness and green growth in communities through tangible investments in microgrid projects within the SEA region and utilize the fields for incubation business and human resource development.

CleanGrid Partners is a first for Greenway Grid Global, set up in 2018 as it will inject its technical knowhow and research & development strengths into the new company which is solely focused on Southeast Asia.

WEnergy Global, set up in 2012, is a Singapore engineering and investment company largely focused on identifying, designing, building and operating renewable energy microgrids in Southeast Asia.

ICMG Partners aims to bring in new global corporate leaders and innovative technologies in order to enhance the electrification throughout Asia. The company is fully equipped to bring partners from different sectors and countries together to address regional and global challenges with new business models and structures.

Several other projects in the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar are already in the pipeline. CleanGrid Partners 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 decentralised electrification. In Singapore, the partners aim at engagements in smart micro-grids at industrial estate level.

Mr Atem S. Ramsundersingh, CEO of WEnergy Global, said: "WEnergy Global knows that the problem of a lack of access to electricity remains a chronic problem in the region. 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. 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."

Mr. Gen Funahashi, Director of ICMG Partners: "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. 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".

Mr. Shinichi Imai^[2], TEPCO PowerGrid's Managing Director of International Business Development Unit and Greenway Grid Global Chairman, said: "Collectively, the Group aims to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the targets set in the Paris Agreement for Climate Change through innovation."

Mr. Yoshinori Kaneko, President of TEPCO PowerGrid, said: "Utilizing the technology and knowledge gained in the transmission and distribution sector in Japan, we promote investment in smart power infrastructure that brings vitality to the global community for green growth."

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} Shinichi Imai (www.media-outreach.com)