The country bagged USD50-million worth of funding for renewable energy (RE) projects during the state visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to Malaysia this week. In a statement Sunday, Philippine-based private equity investor New Wave Strategic Holdings, Inc. and its partner, Emissary Capital Partners Sdn Bhd, said their investments here could generate additional 1,000 megawatts (MW) of RE capacity for the country. Emissary Capital is a Malaysian investment firm with funds backed by the government. The USD50-million fund aims to finance companies investing in the Philippines in the RE sector, electric vehicle industry, as well as clean energy and smart grid. 'New Wave and Emissary Capital have identified the early stages of renewable energy projects as the most challenging for companies to raise capital due to the perceived risks,' they said. The companies said initial projects supported by the funding include solar and wind farms in northern Luzon. 'It is important that the Philippines develops a more mature eco-system with capital providers across various stages of the investment cycle. With Emissary's entry into the Philippines, we are providing more founders and entrepreneurs access to growth capital as well as a regional network that can help them expand across SEA (Southeast Asia),' New Wave director Enrique Gonzalez said. The parties added the available funding for the RE sector will help the government achieve its goal of 35 percent RE sources in the energy mix by 2030 and up to 50 percent by 2040. In 2022, RE accounted for 22.8 percent of the country's energy mix. Emissary Capital partner Erman Akinci said the Philippines presents the 'most exciting' RE market in the region for the next five to 10 years since the government allowed 100 percent foreign ownership in RE projects last year. 'Clean energy is both a local and regional commitment amongst ASEAN neighbors. We believe cross-border investment and trade will ultimately benefit the entire region and help ASEAN meet its collective goals. We hope our fund can contribute to this goal as well as generate healthy returns,' Akinci said. Prior to this partnership, the two investment firms tied up to launch a USD50 million fund for tech startups in ASEAN member states. Earlier, Malacañang said Marcos received USD285 million worth of investment pledges during his July 25 to 27 official trip to Kuala Lumpur
Source: Philippines News Agency
