ACEN, Puri Usaha Group to develop energy projects in Indonesia

MANILA, Philippines — ACEN Corp. is expanding its foothold in Indonesia after it partnered with the Puri Usaha Group to form a joint venture platform to develop clean energy projects.

ACEN and the Puri Usaha Group have agreed to work together under the proposed joint venture Suryagen Capital Pte. Ltd., subject to applicable regulatory approvals and execution of definitive documentation.

Under the platform, both groups will jointly develop renewable energy projects in Indonesia, focusing on large-scale solar power plants, battery energy storage system and green hydrogen projects.

“In the time since we have started discussions, we have learnt about the tremendous vision the Puri Usaha team have for the renewables industry in Indonesia. It is a vision that we share, as the country has tremendous potential to continue to grow and expand its renewable energy assets and we are excited about the potential of the Suryagen platform,” ACEN International COO Patrice Clausse said.

The Suryagen platform covers the Batam, Bintan and Karimun (BBK) islands, as well as East Nusa Tenggara province where most of the projects that the Puri Usaha Group have been developing are located. Construction of its first project is targeted by 2023.

“ACEN is an ideal strategic partner for the Puri Usaha group to strengthen our overall capabilities in undertaking our major projects around Indonesia beginning with the historic cross border green electricity project from Batam to Singapore,” Puri Usaha group of companies CEO Ben Subrata said.

The Puri Usaha Group was instrumental in the formation of a consortium to participate in the recently announced ambitious cross border initiative to import renewable energy from Indonesia for the Singaporean market, which is currently being run by the Energy Market Authority of Singapore.

The historic project, which aims to build renewable power in Indonesia and export the power to Singapore via a subsea cable, will be the first project the Suryagen platform intends to develop.

ACEN made its first regional expansion in Indonesia in 2017 through a deal with UPC Renewables Indonesia Ltd. to develop the $150-million, 75-megawatt (MW) wind power project in Sulawesi.

The South Sulawesi wind project, which started operating in March 2018, is ACEN’s first greenfield offshore investment through its affiliate AC Energy International Holdings Pte Ltd., a Singapore private limited company.

Apart from the 75-MW wind farm project in South Sulawesi, it also has a 20 percent stake in Star Energy (Salak-Darajat) B.V., which acquired Chevron’s geothermal operations in Indonesia.

The consortium operates the 271-MW Darajat and 377-MW Salak geothermal plants in West Java.

Apart from Indonesia, ACEN now has a presence in Vietnam, Australia, India, and the US.

To date, it has 3,800 MW of attributable capacity both in the Philippines and internationally. Of the total, 3,300 MW are from renewable sources, such as solar, wind, and geothermal energy.

ACEN has an RE pipeline of 18,000 MW in its covered markets, and these are in various stages of progress, being developed organically and with partners.

Of the total, 8,100 MW are in Australia, 6,500 MW in the Philippines, 1,600 in Vietnam and 1,800 MW in India and other markets.

This massive pipeline puts the company in a strong position to reach its 5,000-MW target earlier than 2025, towards its vision of becoming the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia