India’s EESL to invest in Thailand’s e-mobility player SWAG

November 9, 2020 4:41 pm

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), the world’s largest energy service company, announced it will invest in SWAG EV, an emerging e-mobility player to drive the use of electric motorbikes while contributing to increasing power grid flexibility. This concept of convergence – the integration of electric mobility, battery storage, renewable energy generation and carbon finance – has the power to provide clean, reliable and affordable energy, and catalyse an energy transformation in Southeast Asia.

By using e-bikes with swappable batteries, most of which will be charged by solar power, they can drive the transformation to healthier cities while fighting climate change. ‘Batteries on wheels’ create an overlap between e-mobility, solar energy battery storage and a more flexible power grid. The e-bike batteries will increase the capacity of the power grid to incorporate a higher share of renewable energy in its energy mix and trigger decarbonization in Thailand. This concept is replicable across the world and this project will serve as the basis for implementation in India.

EESL is a pioneer in driving the concept of convergence in its key markets – India and Southeast Asia. As one of the world’s largest public energy service companies, owned by the largest public sector enterprise in the Indian power sector, EESL has invested in SWAG EV, an emerging actor ushering in the two-wheeled e-mobility transformation in Southeast Asia.

EESL’s initial US$5 million investment was conceptualized by SHIFT Asia, a carbon finance platform designed and operated by South Pole to mobilize climate finance for e-mobility. In addition to its investment, SHIFT Asia will co-fund the e-bike charging infrastructure in designated service areas and support EESL in financing shared batteries; all to make battery swapping and charging simple and convenient.