Solar start-up Xurya becomes first recipient of Southeast Asian green fund

The Jakarta Post Jakarta-based solar start-up Xurya has received an undisclosed investment sum from the multimillion-dollar South East Asia Clean Energy Facility (SEACEF), becoming the fund’s first recipient since its launch in June. Xurya said on Monday that the funds would be used to continue developing 80 megawatt peak (MWp) rooftop photovoltaic (PV) projects for businesses and industries in Indonesia. “Against the slowdown of utility-scale solar investments, we believe that commercial and industrial customers are a bright spot for electrification investors in Indonesia,” said Xurya managing director Eka Himawan. For Xurya, which recently expanded to Sumatra and Sulawesi islands, the investment also represents a lifeline, as energy investments have collapsed globally following a decline in energy demand amid the ongoing health crisis. Globally, new solar PV installations are expected to dip by 17.5 percent from last year, led by falling demand among homeowners and small-medium businesses “as they look to save money or reduce capital spending”, wrote the International Energy Agency (IEA) in May. “Amid the economic crisis, SEACEF’s early investment into Xurya will create new jobs, provide efficiencies and most importantly, provide the development funds to show that a green recovery can be achieved,” Clime Capital managing director Mason Wallick said in the statement. Clime Capital, a Singapore-based investment firm, manages the SEACEF that raised an initial US$10 million from several philanthropic organizations such as the United States’ Wellspring Climate Initiative and the United Kingdom’s High Tide Foundation. The fund specializes in providing high-risk capital for renewable energy projects in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines to help the projects get off the ground.