Mussen (centre) poses with the parties who signed the Cooperative Agreement for the Integrated Low Carbon-Silicon based materials factory. Also in the picture are Zhang (fourth left), Wang Yong (fifth left), Khalid (fifth right), Izat (fourth right) and others. – Photo by Roystein Emmor
KUCHING (March 16): The first integrated low carbon-silicon based materials factory in South East Asia will be built in Samalaju, Bintulu.
Adam Digital Assets Sdn Bhd chairman Tan Sri Dato Sri Khalid Abu Bakar expressed thanks to the Sarawak government, particularly the Ministry of International Trade, Industry and Investment (Mintred) and the State Financial Office, for supporting the project.
He said the establishment of the factory involving investment worth RM6.7 billion will be the pioneer in South East Asia that utilises raw materials (silica) to produce the end product (solar panels) and will have a positive impact to Sarawak economically, socially and environmentally.
According to him, this project that provides green energy solutions to the region involves collaborations between local companies (Adam Digital Asset and Solar Pulse), Haitai Solar, CMEC and Solar Pulse, which are based in China.
“Our consortium has identified the location to build the plant in Samalaju Industrial Park in Bintulu, with a direct investment worth USD1.5 billion (approximately RM6.7 billion).
“The project is scheduled to kickoff next year and to complete by 2025, and to be fully operational by 2026,” he said when speaking at the Cooperative Agreement signing ceremony for the Integrated Low Carbon-Silicon based materials factory between Adam Digital Assets SdnBhd, Haitai Solar, China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and Solar Pulse SdnBhd at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here yesterday.
Khalid added the project will provide an estimated 4,000 job opportunities upon full operation of the factory, employing 3,800 skilled workers and 200 professionals.
“This achieves 40 per cent of the target in the state’s Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 to create new employment opportunities in high-tech related industry.
The Cooperative Agreement signing ceremony was witnessed by Deputy Minister of International Trade, Industry and Investment Datuk Dr Malcolm Mussen Lamoh, who represented Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
Meanwhile, Mussen said the state government welcomes these collaborations as they can help in reducing the level of carbon emissions in line with the state’s green economy agenda.
“This initiative is very much welcomed by the state government since it is more towards green energy and Sarawak is blessed that our energy mix is up to 70 per cent solar which is regarded as green energy.
“I believe with this new innovation and technology, Sarawak will be seen as the prime player of global warming initiative to at least lower the emissions of carbon,” he said.
Signing on behalf of Adam Digital Assets Sdn Bhd was Khalid, Solar Pulse Malaysia by president Izzat Sulaiman, CMEC China by director Richard Zhang, and chairman Wang Yong for Haitai Solar.
Haitai Solar is one of the largest PV modules manufacturers in the world, listed in the Beijing Stock Exchange and Tier 1 module manufacturer by the Bloomberg New Energy Finance. They are focused on green energy with five business divisions which are photovoltaic modules, utility scale power plant, photovoltaic brackets, energy storage and hydrogen energy.
CMEC is a globally renowned EPCC company which has successfully delivered many types of engineering projects while Solar Pulse is a Malaysian company with extensive experience in self consumption rooftop solar project in the country.
Also present at the signing ceremony were Adam Digital Assets Malaysia deputy chairman Dato Norazwan Aziz, CMEC Malaysia project director Jeff Xie Xi, Adam Digital Assets Malaysia CEO Maya Bohari, Solar Pulse Malaysia representative Yusuf Izzul, Haitai Solar Singapore managing director William Liu, and Adam Digital Assets Malaysia director Awang Muhd Zaki.