Denham, Nexif investing $200M in Southeast Asia energy

Denham Capital Management LP, a US private-equity company, and Nexif Pte Ltd., a power investment business, will work together to develop, finance, build and buy renewable and conventional power plants across Southeast Asia.

Denham and Singapore-based Nexif will channel more than $200 million into clean energy and conventional power projects across the region through a new platform called Nexif Energy, Denham said Tuesday in a statement. For renewables it will steer funds into wind, solar and hydropower in countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia, Scott Mackin, managing partner and co-president of Denham, said by e-mail.

"Southeast Asia has a tremendous need for new power generation and we look forward to working with governments, our partners and the region’s communities to provide electricity solutions that are both economical and reliable,” Surender Singh, founder and co-chief executive officer of Nexif, said in the statement.

The investors are seeking to exploit the thirst for clean energy in Southeast Asia as governments put in place incentives for power from green sources. The Philippines is seeking to get half of its energy from renewables by 2030 compared with about 34 percent in 2010. Thailand plans to increase clean energy capacity to 19,635 megawatts in 2036 from 7,279 last year.

While the split between conventional and renewable assets will be "opportunity driven," the initial aim is to invest equally in both, Mackin said. It plans to invest all the funds in two to four years to support "hundreds" of megawatts worth of projects. (Bloomberg)