KUALA LUMPUR: SD Guthrie is set to expand its renewable energy (RE) portfolio under Malaysia’s fifth large-scale solar (LSS5) programme.
Group Managing Director Datuk Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha emphasized the company’s strategic move to capitalize on opportunities in the RE sector, particularly in solar projects that require extensive land.
He highlighted that, instead of merely leasing land to industry players, SD Guthrie aims to take a more proactive role in the government’s energy transition by investing directly in solar farms.
“This initiative will not only help us reduce our carbon footprint but also optimize our land assets, even though it may seem unrelated to the plantation sector,” he said. SD Guthrie has been involved in the solar business since the LSS1 programme in 2018, initially leasing land for a 20MW project.
For LSS4, the company has leased 12 plots of land, supporting projects with a combined capacity of 336MW, which represents 40% of the scheme’s quota.
Despite the current minimal contribution from RE projects, Mohamad Helmy revealed ambitious plans for the future. “In the next two to three years, we aim to generate one gigawatt (GW) of power,” he stated.
He explained that an investment of RM2.5 million is required for 1MW of power generation, translating to a RM2.5 billion investment for the 1GW target. “We anticipate a high-single-digit return on investment, around eight to nine percent on a project basis,” he added.
