Abu Dhabi clean energy company Masdar has signed an agreement with Malaysia to develop the company's largest floating solar plant, as expands in South-east Asia.
The $208 million project at the Chereh Dam in the state of Pahang will span 3.84 million square metres and have a capacity of 200 megawatts, to provide affordable power to more than 100,000 homes, Masdar said on Tuesday in a statement.
The Chereh plant, Masdar's first foray into Malaysia, will be developed under a consortium with the country's Citaglobal and Tiza Global, the Abu Dhabi company said. It will be Masdar's largest such development in South-east Asia, surpassing its similar project in Indonesia, it added. The power purchase agreement for the deal was signed by state-owned Tenaga Nasional.
The development is the first project of the 10-gigawatt renewable energy strategy signed between Masdar and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority in 2023.
“Our largest floating solar development globally … reaffirms Masdar’s expertise in floating solar and our position as a trusted partner across the region,” Masdar chief executive Mohamed Al Ramahi said.
Masdar, jointly owned by Taqa, Adnoc and Mubadala, has developed projects in more than 40 countries with a combined capacity of more than 51GW. The company's global ambition is to reach 100GW of renewable capacity by 2030.
Its entry into Malaysia follows similar moves in Asia this year. In April, Masdar signed agreements to develop power plants, including what was then South-east Asia's biggest floating solar plant, in Indonesia. In January, it said it will be building renewable energy projects with a capacity of 1GW in the Philippines.
These developments complement Masdar's global portfolio. In October, the company completed its acquisition of a 49.99 per cent stake in a $432 million portfolio of four operational solar photovoltaic plants from Endesa in Spain, expanding its presence in Europe.
Closer to home, Masdar in August said the $1.1 billion Al Sadawi solar project in Saudi Arabia, being developed by a consortium with China’s GD Power and Korea Electric Power Corporation, had reached financial close.
Masdar has also taken a 50 per cent stake in East Anglia Three, the world's second-largest offshore wind project, off the coast of eastern England, and has teamed up with entities in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for renewable energy developments in those Central Asian nations. Last week, Masdar completed its first battery energy storage system project in the UK.
The Malaysian project is expected to boost the country's renewable capacity under its energy transition strategy, said Mohamad Zakaria, executive chairman and president of Citaglobal.
“This collaboration gives us confidence that the Chereh floating solar project will be … strengthening Malaysia’s energy security and long-term economic resilience,” he said.
Masdar's work is aiding global goals to adopt more cleaner energy sources. Although renewable energy is expanding rapidly, it is not growing fast enough to meet targets set for 2030, the International Renewable Energy Agency said last year.
Capacity needs to grow by at least 16.4 per cent annually until 2030 to achieve the tripling target pledged at the Cop28 climate conference in Dubai, the Abu Dhabi-based agency said in a report.
