FOR corporate leaders across South-East Asia, renewable energy procurement has officially shifted from a corporate social responsibility exercise into a core financial hedge.
Faced with rising grid tariffs, expanding Scope 2 disclosure mandates and aggressive RE100 supply chain demands, businesses can no longer afford to treat clean power as a brand reporting exercise. RE100 is a global corporate renewables initiative led by Climate Group, whose members have committed to using 100% renewable electricity in their operations by 2050 at the latest.
Speaking at the Asia ESG Summit 2026 organised by Star Media Group, industry experts at a panel titled “Corporate PPAs: Navigating Power Purchase Agreements for 100% Renewable Energy” revealed how corporate power purchase agreements (CPPAs) are unlocking direct access to clean electricity.
Breaking the monopoly bottleneck Historically, businesses in regulated markets had limited choices for acquiring green power. Today, regulatory shifts such as Malaysia’s Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) are enabling direct bilateral contracts between developers and corporate buyers via third-party access on the national grid.
While rigid market structures previously ruled out off-site arrangements, regional governments are now reforming energy policies to attract foreign direct investment.
“Big brands with strong RE100 targets use clean energy access as a bargaining chip – if a country can’t provide it, they take their investments elsewhere,” explained Clean Energy SEA founder and principal advisor Jane Tay.
Saxon Renewables managing director Reik Ong emphasised that grid liberalisation grants off-takers unprecedented control.
“Corporates now have the opportunity to buy electricity directly from non-retailers, negotiating volume, tenure and renewable types directly with project owners,” he noted.
De-risking the 20-year commitment
A common sticking point for chief finance officers is the intimidating nature of 15- to 20-year contract tenures. What happens if technology evolves or a facility moves?
Plus Xnergy group chief executive officer and co-founder Ko Chuan Zhen explained that zero-capital expenditure (capex) PPA structures and technology integration help manage these long-term risks.
“Solar has transformed from a compliant ‘nice-to-have’ into a fundamental energy source,” Ko said.
“The focus now is the ‘golden triangle’, combining solar generation, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and artificial intelligence energy management to optimise peak-hour consumption.”
Ko added that PPA structures protect off-takers through floating tariff-discount pricing (offering 10% to 20% savings against grid rates), performance guarantee floors and transferability clauses during mergers and acquisitions events.
Tsao Pao Chee managing director of energy transition Robin Pho highlighted how long-term agreements buffer businesses against broader market instability.
“Clients want stable power they can plan for without predicting volatile energy markets,” he said.
“With models like BESS and zero-capex financing, developers absorb the upfront capital risk so clients can pay a single predictable price over 15 to 20 years.”
Broadening playing field
While utility-scale off-site PPAs are heavily sought after by data centres and semiconductor manufacturers, the panel highlighted that smaller commercial buyers are not left out.
Tay highlighted that mid-sized enterprises can access utility-scale pricing through multi-party aggregated PPAs and retailer-facilitated sleeved agreements.
By bringing advisors or retailers in to pool smaller off-takers into a single master contract, mid-market companies can collectively meet the volume threshold required to secure competitive tariffs, she said.
