UEM Lestra Secures Offtakers For 1GW Hybrid Solar Power Plant Under CRESS

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 (Bernama) -- UEM Lestra Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary and green industries arm of UEM Group Bhd, has secured offtakers for its National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) one-gigawatt (1GW) hybrid solar power plant project under the government’s Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme or CRESS. 

UEM Lestra is a wholly-owned subsidiary and green industries arm of UEM Group Bhd.

Lestra Hexa JV Bhd, a 51 per cent subsidiary of UEM Lestra, and its joint venture entity with I Squared Capital’s HEXA Renewables has secured a commitment from, among others, Hong Kong-based ESR Group (ESR), an Asia Pacific’s leading real asset management group and parent company of Logos Infrastructure Holdco Pte Ltd, as its main offtakers.

“The involvement of ESR will further enhance the viability of this national endeavour. We are eager to collaborate with all involved parties to ensure the successful implementation of this ambitious project.

“The project has the potential to attract more foreign direct investment, create quality jobs, and foster economic growth, while simultaneously advancing Malaysia’s renewable energy landscape," said UEM Lestra's chief executive officer Harman Faiz Habib Muhamad in a statement today. 

The committed offtakers would be procuring green energy from the first phase of UEM Lestra-NETR 1GW hybrid solar power plant project which is set to be established across a 687.96-hectare site in Segamat, Johor, said UEM Lestra in a statement today. 

The first phase, which would see UEM Lestra investing close to RM2.5 billion, has a 500-megawatt alternating current (MWac) interconnection point and would feature an estimated 750-megawatt peak of solar capacity (MWp), supported by a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), capable of generating over 1,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of green energy per annum. 

The parties will work towards concluding the Bilateral Electricity Supply Contract in the coming months with a target of meeting the commercial operation date by the end of 2027.

This would be the first project undertaken under CRESS, launched in September 2024 by the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA) and implemented by the Energy Commission. 

The scheme seeks to provide corporate consumers with broader green electricity supply options, helping them achieve their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments through third-party access to green electricity.

-- BERNAMA