UMS in pact with Seagate for green energy development

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KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is edging closer towards realising its conceptual development of the the green energy following the signing of an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Seagate Global Group here yesterday.

According to vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Kamaruzaman Ampon, some of the components of the MoU included a proposed pilot programme for an incubator of solar energy demonstrating green technology and affordable construction techniques.

Following the agreement, Seagate Global will construct a building which will showcase
the use of green technology.

The second component of the MoU is the proposed development of a UMS cultural resort village.

“SeagateGlobal group will become our partner in
developing the beautiful beach of UMS.

“I wish to see this project facilitated and on the part of UMS, we will give our full cooperation to implement the project,” Kamaruzaman said.

He elaborated on the concept of the resort village during a press conference held later, saying that the construction will commence sometime this year.

He also said that the idea to have a resort on campus has been floated for a long time, but decided to approach it slowly as they want its development to be as ‘environmentally-friendly’ as possible.

The village resort will be constructed on a 40 to 50-acre site along the beach fronting the campus and will be a practical training ground for hospitality students of the university as well as to members of the community, he said.

The third component of the MoU is the incorporation of a proposed solar power plant, which according to Kamaruzaman will be the ultimate goal of the university.

“This will take time for implementation due to bureaucracy as well as the need to fulfill the necessary requirements,” he said.

He disclosed that the university’s current monthly electricity bill is about RM2 million.

“Harnessing solar energy will help us to generate cheaper electricity. We already have our own engineers carrying out research and development and we have to optimise their capacity.

“With the technology that Seagate Global is going to share with us, we should be able to generate our own power and if we have excess power, it can be sold out,” he said.

Kamaruzaman expressed confidence that if the plan for the solar power plant is implemented, up to 30 per cent of the institution’s expenditure on power will be saved.

Two other components of the MoU are the proposed linkage of UMS and Tsinghua University Sisterhood programme and cooperation in agriculture and community based projects, to be agreed upon mutually by the parties.

Present during the signing were Seagate Global Group’s chairman and chief investment officer, Professor William Lawton and Seagate Southeast Asia president, Dominador S Tupaz, Jr.