FRANK Phuan spent a decade building Singapore’s biggest solar company. Now he wants to do something harder… connect two countries’ energy systems across a narrow, politically complicated strait. He has the capital, the land and the licences. What he doesn’t have, yet, is a permit framework that any bank will lend against.
His new company, Equator Renewables Asia, announced last week it had raised S$50 million (roughly US$39 million) to develop large-scale solar, green hydrogen and sustainable industrial zone projects across Indonesia.
The funding round includes S$30 million from strategic cornerstone investors KPN Corporation, an Indonesian agribusiness conglomerate, and Singapore-based enterprise Tsao Pao Chee. The remaining S$20 million comes from Phuan himself and ERA’s management team.
The Deal
KPN brings something money alone cannot buy: extensive landbanks across Indonesia through its agribusiness operations, portions of which are to be repurposed for utility-scale solar, battery storage and green hydrogen production.
ERA has also secured conditional approval and a conditional import licence from Singapore’s Energy Market Authority to import up to 400MW of renewable power from Indonesia.
Phuan described the raise in unambiguous terms.
“This fundraiser is a pivotal step in ERA’s mission to help Singapore and Indonesia decarbonise while supporting the development of sustainable industrial zones,” he said (CleanTech Group).
“With backing from partners who bring land, logistics, regulatory alignment and board-level commitment, and more importantly, a shared focus on impact, we are ready to scale multiple solar projects, green hydrogen facilities, and cross-border infrastructure that align with Singapore and Indonesia’s intention to establish a regional green hub.”
ERA’s project pipeline includes multiple solar PV developments with a combined capacity of 2.2 gigawatt-peak, alongside 3.2 gigawatt-hours of battery energy storage and new green hydrogen production initiatives. Greenhouse Projects are expected to be sited across several locations in the Riau Islands, with KPN-controlled land as an additional option.
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The Bigger Picture
ERA is one of six companies the Energy Market Authority has licensed to import clean energy into Singapore, which has set a target of sourcing six gigawatts of low-carbon electricity from the region by 2035, about a third of its projected national power demand.
Once fully operational, ERA’s cross-border projects are expected to generate about 2100 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity annually; enough to power more than 350,000 Singapore households and offset over one million tonnes of CO₂ each year.
Investor Tsao Pao Chee, a Singapore-based shipping and logistics enterprise, articulated the broader strategic logic: “TPC is advancing an integrated Energy Transition and Regenerative Infrastructure strategy, investing across renewable power, energy storage, industrial electrification, energy efficiency, nature-based solutions, and carbon markets said its representative. “Drawing on our heritage in shipping and logistics, TPC supports the production, storage, and maritime transport of green hydrogen and low-carbon fuels — developing end-to-end energy corridors linking Indonesia and Singapore.”
The economics are straightforward.
Singapore’s regulated electricity tariffs sit significantly above Indonesia’s, and the logic of generating solar power cheaply at scale in the archipelago and transmitting it via subsea cable to one of Asia’s most energy-hungry city-states has always made sense on paper.
The Problem: Five Years
The problem is the paperwork.
Industry executives have told the Straits Times that a regulatory requirement in Indonesia — permit renewal every five years — has made the projects difficult to finance, jeopardising project timelines. DCCEEW Without long-term regulatory certainty, banks will not lend on the terms infrastructure projects require. Solar farms and subsea cables are 25-year assets. Five-year permits are a fundamental mismatch.
Phuan has acknowledged the friction directly, telling Eco-Business that ERA’s projects are “progressing in parallel” with policy discussions between the Singapore and Indonesian governments to finalise the regulatory framework for cross-border renewables trade, including the tenure of export licences.
He cited regulatory hurdles, electricity price volatility and land access rights as among the key challenges facing cross-border energy trading in Southeast Asia.
The Clock Is Running
That diplomatic process got a formal boost when Indonesia and Singapore signed an MoU committing to develop the required policies and business frameworks for cross-border electricity trade within 12 months. That clock runs out in June 2026 (10 weeks away).
Phuan founded ERA specifically to accelerate energy transition in the region, with a focus on cross-border electricity trade, utility-scale solar, energy storage, and green hydrogen development — a mission that looks increasingly like a race between capital and regulation. The money is raised, the land is identified and the conditional licences are in hand. What remains is a functioning permit framework that lenders will accept… and governments willing to deliver one before the window closes.
The Indonesia-Singapore corridor is the most logical starting point for ASEAN’s clean energy trade ambitions. What happens in the next three months will say a great deal about whether the region’s landmark power grid vision is a diplomatic talking point or a bankable infrastructure reality.
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