NEWSROOM

Sindicatum, a Singapore-based developer of clean energy projects, could seek up to USD 50m later this year to fund expansion of its renewable-energy portfolio in southeast Asia and India, group chief executive Assaad Razzouk said.

Sindicatum plans to develop a portfolio of 500 MW of new clean energy assets in India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines over the next two to three years, building on the 300 MW of clean energy production assets it already has, Razzouk said. The projects will take agricultural or municipal waste from large population centers, which would otherwise emit methane into the atmosphere and turn it into power than can be sent to the grid.

The company will likely need to raise USD 30m-50m later this year to fund the expansion, Razzouk said. The fundraising will be a mixture of mezzanine financing and equity in Sindicatum Captive Energy Asia, the unit developing those projects, he said.

“These markets are perennially short of energy,” Razzouk said. “You end up cleaning up waste and turning it into something useful — and ultimately into cash.”

Each project will generate less than 50 MW of power, fueled by a captive energy source from waste, Razzouk said. For example, it could take bagasse, a byproduct of the sugar production process, and use it to feed a power plant operated as a joint venture with the sugar mill. Sindicatum would seek a majority stake in the projects.

Sindicatum has not yet hired financial or legal advisors for the deal and will hire them when the time comes, Razzouk said.

In addition to developing its own greenfield projects, the company could acquire some existing projects with an eye to expanding them, he said. For example, it could acquire an existing plant powering a mill and make it more efficient so that it can export power to the grid.

Before joining Sindicatum, Razzouk was deputy head of global corporate finance at Nomura in London.

by Ben Scent