Production

Malaysia's largest green hydrogen project to begin construction this year after closing $400m in finance

Semarak Renewable Energy has commissioned PowerChina to build a 60MW facility powered by floating solar

Mohammad Shahil, chairman of Semarak Renewable Energy, and Willy Lim, partner at Capitale Ventures.
Mohammad Shahil, chairman of Semarak Renewable Energy, and Willy Lim, partner at Capitale Ventures.Photo: Capitale Ventures

Malaysia’s largest green hydrogen project so far, a 60MW plant in the state of Perak powered by floating solar, has secured a 1.88bn-ringgit ($393.6m) from private investors. The deal was facilitated by Singaporean investment firm Capitale Ventures with Chalfouh LLC as advisory.

Stay ahead on hydrogen with our free newsletter

Keep up with the latest developments in the international hydrogen industry with the free Accelerate Hydrogen newsletter. Sign up now for an unbiased, clear-sighted view of the fast-growing hydrogen sector.
Sign up now

The project’s developer, Semarak Renewable Energy, had earlier this year signed a contract worth the same amount with Chinese state-owned construction firm PowerChina for design, engineering, procurement and construction of the hydrogen production and storage assets, as well as the upstream floating photovoltaics.

PowerChina is due to break ground on the project in the final quarter of this year.

However, while at around 6,000 tonnes of annual H2 production capacity the facility is the largest to reach financial close in Malaysia to date, it could soon be dwarfed by two projects being developed in the state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

Front-end engineering and design on H2biscus — a 150,000 tonnes-a-year project developed by Korean companies Samsung Engineering, Lotte Chemical, and Korea National Oil Corporation, as well as Malaysia’s SEDC Energy — is currently under way, with a final investment decision (FID) and the start of construction due at the end of this year.

SEDC Energy is also in the consortium for H2ornbill — a 90,000 tonnes-a-year green hydrogen project reportedly likely to reach FID in 2025 — with Japanese firms Eneos and Sumitomo.

Both Sarawak projects plan to draw on hydropower, which supplies more than two thirds of the state’s electricity, and export most of the H2 produced to other Asian countries. H2biscus aims to ship hydrogen as ammonia to South Korea, while H2ornbill will transport H2 via carrier chemical methylcyclohexane (MCH).
The government of Malaysia calculated in its hydrogen roadmap that it could see a cumulative 648bn ringgits ($136bn) in revenue from H2 exports up to 2050.
The country also aims to build up its own domestic hydrogen demand by promoting the uptake of fuel-cell vehicles and co-firing H2 in gas-fired power plants, which the government expects to create 30.5TWh and 68.2TWh of annual demand between 2041 and 2050.
Updated to correct role of Capitale Ventures in the agreement.
(Copyright)
MalaysiaGreen H2JapanSouth KoreaAsia
Published 22 February 2024, 11:20Updated 23 February 2024, 08:31