Frank Phuan’s Equator Renewables Asia Teams Up With CREI, Unit Of China National Nuclear Corporation, To Supply Renewable Power From Riau Islands To Singapore

Singapore-based Equator Renewables Asia (ERA), a new venture established by Frank Phuan, co-founder of Sunseap, has announced a major collaboration with CRE International Co., Ltd (CREI), a subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). The partnership will focus on developing a large-scale clean energy project aimed at generating and exporting renewable power to Singapore from Indonesia’s Riau Islands. The project represents a multi-billion-dollar investment that underscores both companies’ commitment to accelerating Southeast Asia’s clean energy transition.

Under a newly signed Cooperation Framework Agreement, ERA and CREI will jointly develop a utility-scale solar and battery energy storage project with a capacity of 900 MWp of photovoltaic power and 1.2 GWh of battery energy storage. Once completed by 2029, the project is expected to generate around 830 GWh of renewable electricity annually. This marks the first project under ERA’s flagship Singapore-Indonesia renewable energy programme, for which the company is among six firms granted conditional licences by Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) to import clean energy into the country.

Singapore, which aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, plans to import up to six gigawatts (GW) of low-carbon electricity by 2035—accounting for about one-third of its total energy requirements. The ERA-CREI project is expected to play a key role in supporting this target while strengthening regional energy cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia.

The agreement was formally signed at the Asia Clean Energy Summit 2025 in Singapore by Frank Phuan, Founder and CEO of ERA, and Sun Jinfeng, Singapore Country Manager of CREI, in the presence of senior representatives from both companies. According to the agreement, CREI will take the lead in investment, construction, and operation of the solar and battery facilities, while ERA will oversee transmission and offtake coordination to ensure efficient energy delivery to Singapore.

Frank Phuan expressed optimism about the partnership, noting that demand for low-carbon energy in Singapore is rapidly increasing. “Our vision from the beginning has been to position ERA to meet this growing demand, and this utility-scale project is the first major step toward turning that vision into impact,” he said. Phuan also highlighted that CREI’s support will bring valuable expertise and resources to the project, creating employment opportunities, fostering local technical knowledge, and contributing to economic development in the Riau Islands.

Sun Jinfeng of CREI shared similar enthusiasm, stating that the collaboration between CREI and ERA brings together the strengths of both organisations. “Frank’s deep understanding of Southeast Asia’s renewable energy landscape, combined with CNNC’s global engineering experience, will ensure the project’s success. This initiative will demonstrate the potential of large-scale solar and storage integration across Southeast Asia,” he said.

ERA was founded earlier this year after Frank Phuan acquired assets from EDP Renewables APAC, the Asia-Pacific arm of Portugal’s leading renewable energy company, which had previously acquired Sunseap four years ago. Phuan has been developing the Indonesian project for over three years as part of the regional expansion efforts initiated during the Sunseap-EDPR collaboration.

Under its conditional licence from the EMA, ERA will be able to import up to 400 MWac of renewable electricity into Singapore through a subsea transmission cable. Once the project becomes fully operational, it is expected to supply approximately 2,100 GWh of renewable power annually—enough to meet the energy needs of more than 350,000 Singaporean households while offsetting over one million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

CRE International is the renewable energy arm of CNNC, China’s state-owned nuclear power company responsible for managing nuclear energy operations and related sectors. CNNC plays a central role in China’s renewable energy expansion, with the country accounting for nearly 40% of global renewable capacity growth, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).