PacificLight's existing 800-megawatt gas-fired power plant in Singapore's Jurong Island industrial ... [+] complex.

PacificLight Power—a privately held Singapore-based company backed by Indonesian billionaire Anthoni Salim’s Hong Kong-listed First Pacific Corp—has won a S$1 billion ($735 million) contract to build, own, and operate a hydrogen-ready combined cycle gas power plant in Singapore as the city-state accelerates deployment of clean energy technologies.

The 600 megawatt power plant, which includes a battery energy storage facility, can run on hydrogen fuel when its completed by January 2029, Singapore-based PacificLight said in a statement. The generator—which will be the largest hydrogen-powered facility in the Lion City—will boost PacificLight’s generating capacity by 64% based on its existing and under-construction capacity.

PacificLight is a subsidiary of the power generating arm of Manila Electric, the largest Philippine power retailer and controlled by Metro Pacific Investments, a Philippine unit of Salim’s First Pacific and partly-owned by tycoon Manuel Pangilinan. Manila Electric’s owners also include the Philippine Gokongwei family’s listed conglomerate JG Summit Holdings.

“The facility will be capable of generating at least 600 megwatts and will be integrated with a large-scale battery energy storage system,” PacificLight said. ``It will be capable of using at least 30% hydrogen at inception, with the ability to burn 100% hydrogen in the future.”

The new plant will add to PacificLight’s existing 830 MW capacity in operation since 2014 and a new 100 megawatt facility that’s due to start operations in the second quarter this year, Manila Electric said in a separate statement. PacificLight’s “continuiig strong performance in a very competitive power market has enabled us to move forward with this industry leading project to bring additional clean power to Singapore,” Pangilinan, chairman of Manila Electric, said.

With a net worth of $12.8 billion, Salim and his family are the fifth richest in Indonesia, according to the list published by Forbes Asia in December 2024. The family also has stakes in Infofood—Indonesia’s largest noodle maker—banking, retail and coal mining.

Lance Gokongwei, who helms JG Summit, and his siblings have $1.9 billion in net worth, making them the 11th richest Philippine family based on the rankings Forbes Asia published in August. The conglomerate is well diversified with interests in airline, banking, real estate, retail, petrochemicals as well as food and beverage industries.

© Forbes