Energy Transition: Opportunities for private capital in Asia Pacific

Assaad Razzouk is CEO of Gurīn Energy, the pan-Asia renewable energy business headquartered in Singapore. At Gurīn, Assaad leads a team of approximately 70 people across North Asia, South-East Asia and India, and focused on the development, ownership and operation of solar, wind and storage assets. Assaad, a Lebanese-British clean energy entrepreneur, has been a leader in the renewables and environment sector since 2004. He established and led several businesses in the carbon mitigation and renewables sectors, building and operating innovative and often first-of-their-kind clean energy and carbon abatement projects in India, South East Asia, North Asia and the United States. His is currently a director of the Reneum Institute, a Singapore not-for-profit digitizing and democratizing renewable energy; a Board member of ClientEarth, the environmental charity using the power of the law to protect people and planet; a Board member of EB Impact, the Singaporean non-profit organisation focused on delivering training and programmes to Asia Pacific’s underserved communities; a member of the International Council of the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine; and host of The Angry Clean Energy Guy podcast. Assaad is a graduate of Syracuse University (summa cum laude) and holds an MBA from Columbia University in New York and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Honoris Causa in Climate Change, Sustainable Development and International Cooperation from Teri University in India. His new book, “Saving the Climate Without the Bullsh*t”, was published by Atlantic Books in 2022.

Mr Beni Suryadi is Manager of Power, Fossil Fuel, Alternative Energy, and Storage at the ASEAN Centre for Energy. He is an energy professional with 14+ years of experience in managing programs and conducting research on energy and climate change, supporting the governments of 10 countries in Southeast Asia to build climate-friendly development of the energy sector, and presenting it to the ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) annually.

Currently leading energy partnerships with the U.S., Russia, China, India, Norway, and international development agencies, overseeing multimillion projects’ portfolios, including the ASEAN Energy and Climate Change Project (ACCEPT); the first integrated official project that addressed the regional emissions reduction from the energy sector, endorsed by the ASEAN Ministers on Energy, and the ASEAN Interconnection Masterplan Study (AIMS) III; the regional blueprint for electricity interconnection in the region under the ASEAN Power Grid (APG).

A Non-Resident Fellow, The Energy for Growth, Washington, D.C. United States of America; Steering Committee of Global Consortium on Power System Transformation (G-PST), Core Member of Green Grid Initiative Asia-Pacific Working Group, Advisory Board of AGENCE FRANÇAISE DE DÉVELOPPEMENT (AFD) Indonesia, and former Sustainability Advisory Council of PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (GO-JEK).

Chermaine is a Senior Vice President, Strategy at Pentagreen Capital, a debt financing platform backed by HSBC and Temasek to accelerate the development of marginally bankable sustainable infrastructure in Asia.

Chermaine has over 12 years of experience, most recently in ANZ Bank (Singapore and Sydney) where she worked worked in Corporate and Project Advisory focusing on renewable energy, battery storage and carbon farming/ biofuels debt and equity strategic transactions. Previously Chermaine was with PwC’s Environmental and Transaction Advisory in Melbourne, Australia and in Valuations in Sydney, Australia. She has also worked within the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, an entity established by the Australian Government, administering federal government grant funding to renewable energy projects.

Chermaine graduated from Monash University, Melbourne with a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance) and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand. She is currently pursuing a Master of Studies (MSt) in Sustainability through the University of Cambridge.

Edward is responsible for origination, investment and asset management for Macquarie Capital in Asia.

Edward joined Macquarie in Melbourne in 2008 and has worked on investment, M&A, financing and capital raising opportunities across Asia Pacific. Edward moved to Singapore in 2015 with a responsibility for principal investments with a focus on renewable and energy transition investments. Edward led the acquisition of Conergy Energy Asia in 2018 which became Blueleaf Energy and has overseen Blueleaf’s growth including leading investment and development transactions. Edward is a director on the board of Blueleaf Energy and has over 8 years’ experience representing Macquarie on portfolio company boards.

Academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne and a Masters in Finance from INSEAD.

Elrika Hamdi is a distinguished energy finance specialist boasting over 15 years of professional experience in the energy finance sector. Currently serving as the Energy Transition Finance and Policy Specialist at the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) Secretariat in Indonesia, Elrika leads the Financial and Policy Working Groups, directing the development and implementation of the Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIPP).

Elrika's areas of expertise encompass power sector analysis, energy transition, renewable energy, financial modeling, sustainable finance, and ESG integration, alongside project development and financing. Her diverse roles as a researcher, consultant, expert, and entrepreneur have endowed her with profound insights into Indonesia's energy policies and the intricacies of Southeast Asia's power market. Noteworthy is her extensive network, which spans Indonesian governmental bodies, SOEs, regional financial institutions, and various stakeholders in the energy landscape. She brings a unique hands-on experience in spearheading rural electrification projects and nurturing the growth of a renewable energy start-up.

Elrika's influence extends to advisory roles with governments and SOEs on matters of energy finance. She has been a featured speaker in numerous domestic and international forums, sharing invaluable insights on energy policies, markets, and finance.

Jackie Surtani is the Regional Director and Head of ADB’s Singapore Office. Before Jackie took on this role, he was based in ADB’s Manila headquarters as Director of the Infrastructure Finance Division covering East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific in its Private Sector Operations Department for six years.

Prior to re-joining ADB in 2017, Jackie was Regional Chief Risk Officer of the Asian commercial finance unit at Siemens Financial Services. He has also held several senior positions in Project Finance teams across Chase Manhattan Bank (now JP Morgan), Credit Suisse, and headed KBC Bank’s Asian Project Finance business in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sydney from inception for 14 years.

Jackie has over 32 years of experience in Asian infrastructure lending and advisory. In particular, he has extensive experience in the South-East Asia power sector and has led several ground-breaking and innovative transactions that have been recognized by leading industry publications.

Jackie graduated with a First Class Honours degree with a Bachelor of Science from the University of East Anglia and obtained his Master of Philosophy degree in Management Studies from the University of Oxford.

Kaz is responsible for developing partnership & decarbonization solutions for GE in Asia region. These consist of power industry solutions across GE’s energy business portfolio, decarbonization of existing thermal assets, and supporting to drive net-zero energy solution roadmap for our customers.

Prior to this role, Kaz operated as the General Manager of Gas Power Services in Asia-Pacific, leading the commercial team to develop in-depth market and customer understanding, enhancing business and sales operations, and providing valuable power plant service solutions to the customers.

In addition, over the 16 years in GE, he operated as the Chief Marketing Officer for GE ASEAN, as well as the General Manager of Growth & Strategy for GE Power in Asia-Pacific. In these roles, he was responsible for strategic initiatives and market development activities across GE and GE Power portfolio in the region, including gas, coal, hydro, and wind power generation technologies amongst others. This involved development of regional market, strategic planning, and execution of business growth initiatives. His team also drove regional demand creation projects, deploying GE Power products to address energy infrastructure needs of respective Asia-Pacific countries.

He has over 16 years of experience across energy industry, and 23 years of experience in technology development, commercialization & new business development.

Kaz attended University of Oxford, where he earned his MBA. He also holds a BA, MEng & MA from the University of Cambridge, and has been a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in the UK.

Lavan is the Executive Director of Infrastructure Asia, a project facilitation office set up by Enterprise Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to support support Asia’s social and economic growth through infrastructure development.

Working closely with both the private and public sector in Singapore and the region, Lavan is focused on project origination and development to enable more sustainable infrastructure development in the region.

He has been actively involved in various initiatives on infrastructure financing including spending over a year at Clifford Capital, a specialist provider of structured finance solutions.

Lavan has also held various leadership roles at the MAS focusing on financial market development.

Nicole Goh joined GIC Infrastructure in 2008. In her current role, she has investment coverage responsibility for opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region, with prior experience investing in the US and Europe. She represents GIC Infrastructure on the boards of its portfolio companies in the region. Nicole has a BSc in Mathematics with Statistics for Finance from Imperial College London, and an MSc in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University.

Sharon Tay is the Chief Executive Officer of Keppel Asia Infrastructure Fund, which is managed by Keppel Capital Alternative Asset Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Capital Holdings Pte Ltd (Keppel Capital).

Sharon has more than 20 years of experience in the infrastructure, private equity, fund management and banking industries, primarily in Asia. She has also led the end-to-end process from the development of the investment strategy to the implementation of infrastructure funds. She joined Keppel Capital in September 2022 and is focused on building its private infrastructure funds business.

Prior to Keppel Capital, Sharon was the Head of Renewable Energy (Vietnam) at Sembcorp Industries, where she was responsible for driving the growth initiatives and strategic direction for Sembcorp’s renewable energy business in Vietnam. Prior to Sembcorp Industries, she held leadership roles in Asia Climate Partners, Daestrum Capital, Deutsche Asset Management, Macquarie and Citibank, where she focused on fund management and investments.

Towfiqua Hoque is a member of the Management Unit of the Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF), a G20 initiative, housed at the World Bank. Towfiqua has over 25 years of experience in advising , structuring, and financing sustainable infrastructure projects, including PPPs, in emerging markets, across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific Islands. Towfiqua has worked across the energy, ports, airports, roads, water and sanitation, and social infrastructure sectors, from policy, planning, structuring, public and private financing aspects. Towfiqua co-chairs the development of the Sustainable Infrastructure Label, under the Finance to Accelerate the Sustainable Transition (FAST) Infra initiative together with HSBC and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group. She is based in Singapore and holds an MBA from the George Washington University.