PADANG BESAR: Local company Konsortium Beseri Jaya Sdn Bhd (KBJ) and Hanwha Energy Corp Singapore Pte Ltd (Hanwha) have set up a joint venture firm, KBJ Hecmy, investing over RM220 million to develop a 30 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power plant at Kampung Perawah, Chuping.
Hanwha Asia business unit senior vice president James Lee said KBJ Hecmy successfully bid for a P3 package (10MW to 30MW) under the Energy Commission’s large scale solar (LSS2) programme.
Hanwha is investing US$10 million in cash in the project and is making a loan of about US$50 million from OCBC Bank and Bangkok Bank, Lee said, adding the whole project cost is some RM250 million.
He was speaking to reporters after the ground-breaking by Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man here yesterday.
Hanwha is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hanwha Energy Corp (HEC), one of South Korea’s biggest business conglomerates based in Seoul.
In his speech, Azlan said the project substantially advances the state government’s efforts to woo foreign investors to Perlis, in particular to Chuping Valley Industrial Area (CVIA).
He said the federal government had approved RM50 million in the Third Rolling Plan of the 11th Malaysia Plan for the provision of basic infrastructure at CVIA this year while Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) had agreed to build a Main Intake Substation in two years’ time.
Azlan said the the project is set to create 400 to 500 jobs during the construction stage and would need hundreds of skilled and semi-skilled workers once operational.
A total of 397 private landowners will be paid RM5,000 for each relong (0.71 acre or 0.29 hectare) they lease, compared to the RM1,000 they get per relong from a single crop of rice a year, he noted.
The state already hosts four solar energy producers each with a capacity of one to seven MW.
Meanwhile, KBJ director Datuk Dr Hashini Hashim said KBJ Hecmy has signed a 21-year power purchase agreement with TNB from June next year, adding the project will only be implemented after agreement has been reached with the 397
landowners. – Bernama
