Breakthrough Energy SEA pilots

Breakthrough Energy’s Southeast Asia fellows program is moving from lab-stage climate ideas to pilot projects, with a Singapore startup signing a new Indonesia biogas deal this month. (enterprisesg.gov.sg) (pertamina.com) Breakthrough Energy Fellows – Southeast Asia was launched in April 2024 by Breakthrough Energy, Temasek and Enterprise Singapore as the first regional hub of Breakthrough Energy’s fellows program, with funding committed over three years. The first two projects were announced on October 29, 2024, at the Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology, known as SWITCH. (prnewswire.com) (enterprisesg.gov.sg) One of those fellows, CRecTech, is developing a catalytic process to turn biogas into biomethanol, a lower-emissions fuel aimed at shipping. Enterprise Singapore said maritime transport accounts for about 3% of global carbon emissions, and CRecTech said its process is designed to cut the cost of producing renewable methanol. (enterprisesg.gov.sg) (befjobs.breakthroughenergy.org) That project moved closer to an industrial test on April 1, 2026, when Pertamina New & Renewable Energy and CRecTech signed a memorandum of understanding to study a pilot facility at the Sei Mangkei Special Economic Zone in Sumatra. Pertamina said the plan would evaluate converting biogas from the Sei Mangkei biogas power plant into biomethanol using CRecTech’s CRecREF catalytic technology. (pertamina.com) Pertamina said Indonesia has large biogas feedstock potential from palm-oil waste that is still underused, and framed the pilot as part of a push to build domestic green-fuel supply chains. The company said the study could lead to a larger commercial project if the pilot economics work. (pertamina.com) The other strand of momentum is coming from Malaysia’s Qarbotech, which sells a photosynthesis enhancer called QarboGrow made with carbon quantum dots, tiny particles designed to help plants capture more light. Qarbotech said the product is aimed at raising yields while reducing fertilizer and land pressure in agriculture. (qarbotech.com) (digitalnewsasia.com) Qarbotech raised a US$1.5 million seed extension in September 2024 to expand in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, and said it was opening a manufacturing facility in Puchong with capacity of 100,000 liters a month. The company said the round included 500 Global, Better Bite Ventures, ID Capital, EQT Foundation and Epic Angels. (digitalnewsasia.com) (techinasia.com) By January 2025, Qarbotech said it had signed agreements to expand into Australia and Indonesia, and cited an initial pilot in Aceh, Indonesia. A current job posting also shows the company hiring for a business development role in Manila to support expansion in the Philippines. (malaysiasme.com.my) (qarbotech.com) The common thread is that Southeast Asia’s climate-tech push is shifting toward pilots tied to real industrial buyers, farms and fuel infrastructure. Breakthrough Energy’s fellows model was built to move projects from research to commercial testing, and the latest Indonesia and Malaysia updates show that transition happening on the ground. (breakthroughenergy.org) (pertamina.com)