Seven renewable energy and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) projects across Southeast Asia are being presented to regional investors as part of efforts to advance ASEAN's industrial integration — a pipeline spanning the Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, and Malaysia.

“ASEAN's next frontier should not simply be trade integration. It should be industrial integration,” Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo said on Tuesday during the Fourth ASEAN Investment Forum, a venue where governments pitch projects to investors.

Several of the projects are located in the Philippines, according to a copy of the investment opportunities provided by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia and the Pacific.

These include Project SAFAL, which seeks to build up domestic SAF production and capture the local feedstock base. The project is being developed by ALCOM Pte. Ltd. at a total cost of $340 million.

SPV Clark, also located in the Philippines, seeks to develop a four-module SAF manufacturing plant in New Clark City, Tarlac. The $226-million project is being developed by SAFAsia, Inc.

Zenith Renewable Holdings Corp. (ZRHC) is developing key projects including the $58-million Burgos Solar Power Project on a 57-hectare site in Pangasinan. The facility is expected to begin operations by the second quarter of 2029 and, once completed, is expected to deliver 105.93 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of clean energy annually.

The $11-million San Pedro Agri-Solar Power Project, also a ZRHC initiative, is likewise seeking investors. Due for completion by the fourth quarter of 2028, it is expected to generate 23 GWh of clean energy. The project will integrate a ground-mounted solar farm with agricultural activities on an 11-hectare site.

Outside the Philippines, projects being promoted to investors include a biofuel project in Indonesia that will service Singapore, linking production in one ASEAN market with demand in another, as well as a coffee modernization initiative in the Champasak province of Laos.

Malaysian projects include the Delapan Solar Farm Project in Kedah and an integrated green-hydrogen project in Perak.

The listed costs across the pitch run from $11 million for the San Pedro agri-solar project to $340 million for Project SAFAL, giving investors a range of entry points across solar, agri-solar, SAF, biofuels, and green hydrogen.

Mr. Rodolfo proposed that sovereign wealth funds be tapped for the projects, positioning state-backed capital as a potential funding source for builds of this scale.

For readers tracking the pipeline, the near-term markers are the funding commitments that follow the forum and progress against stated timelines, including San Pedro's targeted completion by the fourth quarter of 2028 and Burgos's planned start of operations by the second quarter of 2029.

— Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, BusinessWorld

Source: BusinessWorld