Gading Kencana Sdn Bhd, one of the largest solar farm operator in Malaysia, is collaborating with Saudi Arabia’s March Global LLC to develop US$1 billion solar farms in the Middle East, Africa and ASEAN regions.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was inked during the Expo 2020 Dubai.
In a statement , Gading Kencana managing director Datuk Ir Muhamad Guntor Mansor Tobeng said the partnerships covered activities, transactions, relationships, contracts and works related to developing solar farms with a primary focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
“The MENA region was chosen because it has great potential in renewable energy exploration in line with current global developments that want to reduce dependence on conventional energy sources.
“Besides that, this MoU is also a recognition to companies from Malaysia that prove that Malaysia has expertise in the field of renewable energy, especially solar, which is able to play a role globally through such cooperation,” he said.
He said the first collaboration between Gading Kencana and March Global is to develop a solar farm in Khulais, Saudi Arabia with a capacity of 100 megawatts followed by the exploration of investment potential in Ghana and several countries in North Africa.
For the ASEAN region, he said Gading Kencana and March Global aimed to develop solar farms in Vietnam.
Muhamad Guntor said the MoU enabled Malaysian companies such as Gading Kencana to step onto the international stage by taking advantage of developments in the global renewable energy sector with new generating capacity reaching almost 280 gigawatts by 2020, about 45 per cent higher than 2019.
He said according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the performance marked the highest year-over-year increase since 1999.
“Global electricity consumption capacity from renewable energy sources is projected to increase by more than 60 per cent between 2020 and 2026, reaching more than 4,800 gigawatts.
“Very high capacity additions will be the ‘new normal’ in 2022,’’ he added.
