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PETALING JAYA: MISC Bhd has appointed Zahid Osman as its executive director, president and group chief executive officer with effect from Aug 16 2024. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, MISC said Zahid, 52, will succeed Captain Dr Rajalingam Subramaniam (58), who has resigned to pursue other interests. MISC also announced that Rajalingam had resigned as director from wholly-owned unit, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd. Rajalingam will serve as the executive director, president and group chief executive officer of MISC until Aug 15, 2024. “Zahid joined MISC in 2017 as the vice president of gas assets and solutions and moved on to a new role as the vice president of corporate planning in 2022. He sits on the boards of several subsidiaries and joint venture companies within the MISC Group. “Zahid currently serves as the chairman of advisory panel for Malaysia Women in Energy.” Prior to MISC, Zahid was with the Shell Group of Companies for over 20 years.

KUCHING: South Korea-based Lotte Energy Materials Corp is planning for an initial additional investment of RM1.2bil to further expand its elecfoil manufacturing facilities in Samajaya Free Industrial Park here in Sarawak. Lotte Energy is a leading provider of advanced battery material. The Samajaya plant is the group’s first overseas factory to manufacture elecfoil, which is widely used in electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage items. According to Lotte Energy senior vice-president Park Ingoo, there is a possibility for Lotte Energy to put in an additional re-investment of RM2.5bil for the plant, which was acquired from ILIN Materials Co Ltd about five years ago. He was speaking at a briefing for Sarawak deputy-premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan on Lotte Energy’s future expansion plans in Sarawak. Awang Tengah, who is also the state’s International Trade, Industry and Investment Minister, was leading a delegation on a working visit to meet up with existing and potential South Korean investors in Seoul recently. Despite the global economic uncertainties, Lotte Energy plans to expand its manufacturing plant to make Sarawak the key hub to produce cutting-edge battery materials, said the state’s Trade, Industry and Investment Ministry in a statement. “The expansion of the manufacturing facility is expected to generate more than 200 jobs which will foster industrial growth and contribute to the local economy,” Park noted. Meanwhile, another South Korean energy and chemical company, OCI Holdings, has reaffirmed its commitment to Awang Tengah during the meeting with the company’s top executives to expand its manufacturing facilities in Samalaju Industrial Park, Bintulu, with a potential reinvestment of RM3.1bil. OCI specialises in the production of polycrystalline silicon, hydrogen peroxide and other chemical-related materials. In 2017,OCI via subsidiary OCI Malaysia Sdn Bhd (OCIM), acquired full ownership of the polysilicon production facility from Japan’s Tokuyama. To date, OCIM has invested over RM8bil in Sarawak, catering for the solar industry’s polysilicon needs. OCI’s growth plans include diversifying and expanding its chemical materials production in Sarawak. This includes joint ventures with South Korea’s Kumho, one of the world’s largest tire manufacturers and Tokuyama to produce epichlorohydrin and semiconductor-grade polysilicon respectively, with combined investments exceeding RM3.2bil. OCI chairman Lee Woo Hyun has expressed the company’s keen interest in exploring further investments in power development, particularly in renewable energy (RE) via its subsidiary OCI Energy. With a robust global presence, OCI is a major player in RE and energy storage systems. Currently, OCI Energy is the largest independent solar developer in Texas, United States. Awang Tengah, in welcoming Lee’s proposals, highlighted Sarawak government’s commitment to make Sarawak a leader in green energy. “This collaboration in green power development is poised to enhance Sarawak’s energy security while promoting sustainable economic growth and environmental stewardship,” he added. During the working trip, Awang Tengah also met with top executives of KH Shinhwa SnC, which is interested in further exploring collaborative business and investment opportunities with state-owned Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB). This in particular for the electricity safety enhancement projects, including investment in new technology and solutions for power generation. KH Shinhwa, a solution provider and consultant for smart energy, smart cities and smart farms, is currently collaborating with SEB on a hybrid microgrid solar solution project worth about US$7mil in investment. The outcome of the project is expected to provide alternative sustainable energy solutions and set a new benchmark in RE technology.

ZURICH: ABB has been commissioned to upgrade one of the turbine control systems at the 1,300 MW Keppel Merlimau Cogen (KMC) combined cycle gas turbine on Jurong Island in Singapore, to improve efficiency and reliability. The scope includes replacing the existing Egatrol 8 turbine control system with Egatrol X, which is based on the ABB Ability™ System 800xA® flagship distributed control system (DCS) and modern AC800M portfolio. Transferring full functionality from the existing application to the updated solution allows the customer to avoid downtime and install the control system in the shortest possible time. The project involves upgrading DCS components while keeping the overall structure as far as possible. Instead of having to rebuild the entire system in one go, ABB will provide a flexible, customized approach whereby older components are replaced as and when needed. This prevents unnecessary downtime, avoids the costs associated with loss of operation, and ensures a stable, reliable energy supply with high availability. All control settings are adopted through an in-house software code conversion process, eliminating time-consuming adjustments of system parameters. The user interface, based on System 800xA, only requires minor adjustments, which eliminates operator retraining. The hardware design, featuring ABB’s latest I/O evolution kit, significantly reduces commissioning time and eliminates the risk of re-wiring errors. As part of Singapore’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, the government is driving business transformation through grants for energy efficiency and emissions reduction. It is also investing in low carbon technologies to progress the energy transition. With power generation currently accounting for 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, the country plans to diversify its energy supply with a focus in four areas: solar, regional power grids, emerging low-carbon alternatives including hydrogen, and natural gas. While natural gas continues to play an important role, as the country expands its energy portfolio, the KMC project showcases how ABB enables customers to enhance energy and carbon efficiency in gas power generation. This initiative not only safeguards current energy security but also supports the integration of renewable energy into the grid, driving forward shared energy transition goals. “As a global leader in the DCS market, ABB has both the expertise and technology to deliver flexible, customized upgrade installations in the fastest and safest way available,” said Per Erik Holsten, President of ABB Energy Industries. “Turbines sit at the heart of a power plant and our gas turbine control systems have been helping utilities to provide electricity to households across the world in the most efficient and sustainable way possible.” “We are pleased to renew the longstanding partnership between Keppel and ABB with the latest turbine upgrade project. Leveraging ABB’s strong domain knowledge, we are confident that KMC will experience a smooth and seamless migration to the updated system, which is critical to our productivity and ability to provide reliable power supply to the grid,” said Miguel Benito, Assistant Managing Director, Technical and Operations, Power & Renewables, Infrastructure, Keppel. This is part of KMC’s ongoing initiatives to adopt automation solutions to boost system reliability and responsiveness, to achieve enhanced efficiency, lower fuel costs, and a reduced environmental impact.