Global sustainable infrastructure investor Actis has set up a platform to invest in gas-fired power projects across Southeast Asia.

Actis, investing on behalf of Investing from the Actis Energy 5 Fund, said it has launched Bridgin Power to target a total portfolio capacity of 1.2GW across Southeast Asia by 2028.

The newly launched power generation business will target countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

Actis said Bridgin’s first investment was made recently with the acquisition of a 49% stake in a 220MW combined cycle gas turbine power plant in the Bhola region of Bangladesh from India’s Shapoorji Pallonji group.

Sanjiv Aggarwal, a partner responsible for energy infrastructure at Actis said: “We’re excited to be launching a business spanning Southeast Asia, a region which has increasing power demands and where we can leverage Actis’ proven strategy of aggregating energy assets into a scalable regional platform which enables a just and equitable Energy Transition.

“We believe natural gas is an essential fuel for the medium term offering flexible low emission power as the region gradually transitions to more green energy sources.”

Dennis Foo, CEO of Bridgin Power, said: “We’re delighted to have closed our first investment in a country which has strong need for gas power to meet its growing power demands and which provides a stable PPA framework for investors.

“The acquisition of Bhola asset sets us on our path to create an energy platform of scale, using natural gas as a bridge to a sustainable and low carbon future.”

Mukundan Srinivasan, MD at Shapoorji Pallonji Infra said the divestment of the solar assets demonstrates Shapoorji Pallonji Infra’s continued track record of developing infrastructure assets in its chosen spaces, “creating value for its stakeholders and be the partner of choice for high-quality international investors”.

Shami Nissan, partner and head of sustainability at Actis, said: “Actis is a signatory to the net-zero asset managers initiative which supports the goal of net-zero gas emissions by 2050 and we recently announced our own portfolio-wide 2050 net-zero target.

“Our investment in Bridgin Power will allow us to utilise our transition tool to continue our commitment as a core enabler of the global low carbon economy.”

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