BII and FMO back BECIS with joint US$50 million financing facility supporting commercial and industrial renewables sector in South-East Asia

• The joint financing facility will support the energy-as-a-service provider to grow its rooftop solar portfolio in South and South-East Asia to nearly 350 MW by 2025, which will help avoid 319,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
• Supported by local government policies, the nascent Commercial and Industrial solar sector is offering cleaner and lower-cost electricity to customers to displace consumption of on-grid power.

SINGAPORE, April 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- British International Investment (BII), the UK's development finance institution and impact investor, and FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, today announced a joint loan commitment of US$50 million to BECIS, a leading energy-as-a-service (EaaS) provider in South-East Asia.  

From left: Sami Khan, Director, BII; Diana Leng, CFO, BECIS; Madhu Singh, Investment Director,BII; Thijs van der Put, Netherlands Innovation Network, Netherlands Embassy; Eren Ergin, CEO, BECIS;Kara Owen, British High Commissioner to Singapore; Chris Devillers, Head of Economic Affairs and Deputy Head of Mission, Netherlands Embassy; Srini Nagarajan, MD & Head of Asia, BII; Sameer Usgaonkar, Head of Project Finance Asia, BII; Vinh-Thang Hoang, Executive, BII; Zhi Lim, General Counsel BECIS.

BECIS offers a wide array of services, such as rooftop solar, bio energy and energy efficiency solutions, tailored to meet the diverse needs of businesses and communities across Asia. With a strong commitment to sustainability, BECIS leverages advanced technologies and strategic partnerships to optimise energy consumption, drive the adoption of renewable energy sources, enhance operational efficiency, build resilient energy infrastructure, and promote energy literacy within communities.

The joint financing facility will be used to fuel BECIS' expansion and back their groundbreaking energy solutions across Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and India. This is in response to the growing demand for clean and affordable energy within these economies.  

As BECIS brings its portfolio to 346MW by 2025, it aims to avoid 319,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year by offering cleaner and lower-cost electricity to its customers to displace on-grid power.

The loan commitment from BII and FMO underscores their confidence in BECIS' vision and capabilities to revolutionise the energy sector across the region. This partnership goes beyond just finances; it is a symbol of their united mission to propel sustainable development and cultivate innovation across South-East Asia.

Eren Ergin, CEO of BECIS commented: "This loan commitment from BII and FMO represents trust and confidence from esteemed partners in our existing capabilities and growth plans. The funding will enable us to further expand our operations and accelerate the adoption of sustainable energy solutions in the region. We will be well positioned to help our customers achieve their net zero targets and drive sustainable growth."

Speaking on the investment, Srini Nagarajan, Managing Director and Head of Asia at BII, expressed: "Our investment in BECIS is BII's first direct debt financing in South-East Asia. The commitment to commercial and industrial renewables reflects the evolving landscape of energy production, where DFIs can play a key role by providing climate finance to support the region's low-carbon transition. Collaborations with trusted partners like BECIS and FMO underscore the collective effort to mitigate climate change by reducing reliance on traditional on-grid electricity sources."

Jeesun Han, Manager Energy at FMO, stated: "We are pleased to continue supporting BECIS's efforts in expanding its clean energy generation and efficiency solutions in South and South-East Asia. BECIS's service is valuable to its commercial and industrial consumers by meeting their high energy demand in cost-efficient and reliable manners from clean energy sources. Through this transaction, FMO is also delighted to facilitate BII's first direct financing into South-East Asia as a trusted partner in climate action."

BII and FMO remain committed to fostering partnerships that drive sustainable development, innovation, and economic prosperity across Asia. This new financing in BECIS embodies their shared vision for a thriving, sustainable future for the region.

About BECIS

BECIS is a leading Energy as a Service (EaaS) provider to high-quality commercial and industrial customers. With the EaaS model, BECIS develops, constructs, operates and owns distributed energy solutions. This reduces the risk and complexity for our customers whilst achieving their key objectives of sustainability, increased cost efficiency and resilience of their energy infrastructure. For more information: please visit https://be-cis.com/

About British International Investment

British International Investment is the UK's development finance institution and impact investor. As a trusted investment partner to businesses in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, BII invests to support the UK Government's Clean Green Initiative and to create productive, sustainable and inclusive economies in our markets. Between 2022-2026, at least 30 per cent of BII's total new commitments by value will be in climate finance. BII intends to deploy up to £500m in climate finance projects in South-East Asia to support decarbonisation in the region. BII is also a founding member of the 2X Challenge which has raised over $16 billion to empower women's economic development. The company has investments in over 1,470 businesses across 65 countries and total assets of £8.1 billion. For more information, visit: www.bii.co.uk | watch here. Follow British International Investment on LinkedIn and X.

About FMO

FMO is the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank. As a leading impact investor, FMO supports sustainable private sector growth in developing countries and emerging markets by investing in ambitious projects and entrepreneurs. FMO believes that a strong private sector leads to economic and social development and has a 50+ year proven track-record in empowering entrepreneurs to make local economies more inclusive, productive, resilient and sustainable. FMO focuses on three sectors that have high development impact: Agribusiness, Food & Water, Energy, and Financial Institutions. With a total committed portfolio of EUR ~13 billion spanning over 85 countries, FMO is one of the larger bilateral private sector development banks globally. For more information: please visit www.fmo.nl