KUCHING: Sarawak is showing the rest of Malaysia how governments and private sectors can work together to build a cleaner energy future, with the State already securing major partnerships for hydrogen production and green transportation projects.
“The Sarawak Government brings strategic vision, provides the policies, direction and forms the regulatory frameworks, while private sectors bring capital, technology, agility, research and development and innovation,” said Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) Chairman Tan Sri Dr Abdul Aziz Husain.
Advertisement “When these forces are aligned through effective partnerships, the impact can be transformative,” he said at the recent International Energy Week Summit (IEW) 2025 hosted by the Sarawak Energy and Environmental Sustainability Ministry and organised by Informa Markets, a world leading market-making company.
Daily Express was among those invited for the event at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching, here.
SPONSORED CONTENT Thailand Week Makes Its Exciting Debut Indoors at The Spring Shopping Mall, Kuching Featuring over 100 booths it is one of the largest trade and culture showcases ever held in East Malaysia. Read more Abdul Aziz cited Sarawak’s strategic partnerships with Japanese companies (Sumitomo Corporation and ENEOS) under Project Hornbill and South Korean companies (Samsung Engineering, Korea National Oil Corporation and Lotte Chemicals) under Project Hibiscus.
“Green hydrogen from these projects will not only cater for our domestic needs, but also exported to foreign markets such as Japan and South Korea in 2030,” he said.
Advertisement He said Sarawak is also constructing the Rembus Hydrogen Production Plant to produce five tons of green hydrogen daily, which will power Sarawak Metro’s upcoming Kuching Urban Transportation System using Autonomous Rapid Transit technology.
“Hydrogen refueling stations are being built in major cities including Miri, Bintulu, Sri Aman and Sibu, enabling hydrogen-powered vehicle travel throughout the State.
Advertisement “These stations will be operated through partnerships where private entities can own the facilities while receiving government support services,” he said.
He said partnerships is not just about producing clean energy but also about creating new industries and job opportunities.
“We are not only talking about reducing carbon emission but also about creating new industries, providing or creating new skills and opportunities for future generations in Sarawak.
“SEDC Energy is developing a 15,000 tons per annum Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) pilot plant using two technologies, namely Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) technology processing crude algae oil, palm oil, milk effluent and used cooking oil in addition to the Fisher crops technology converting zinc gas from biomass or waste into liquid hydrocarbons,” he said.
Despite the progress, he acknowledged that clearer government policies and frameworks are needed to encourage more partnerships and better coordination between State and Federal governments for renewable energy exports.
One of the biggest challenges in clean energy is that projects require huge upfront investments with uncertain returns.
When asked whether Sarawak prefers local or international partners, Abdul Aziz said “We encourage both.”
“We want to produce hydrogen and maybe methanol and ammonia for exports, because these are required by other countries for their power generation and also for their mobility.
“We would also like to have more private sector partnership locally. For example, waste to energy for our plantations. We have a lot of land here which can be turned into say farming or grass, which can be used for power generation,” he said.
He acknowledged the urgency of these partnerships is clear from regional data.
“Since 2023, some 1,300 renewable and energy transition projects have been announced in the Asia-Pacific region, with announcements doubling from 146 in 2023 to 313 in 2024, now surpassing oil and gas sector projects.
“This growth now surpasses oil and gas sector projects, showing that clean energy is becoming the dominant focus for new investments in the region.
“Clean energy transition is not a solo journey. It is a shared responsibility, a shared opportunity,” he said.
Ernst & Young Parthenon Malaysia Managing Partner Ng Boon Hui said successful Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) require win-win arrangements with government-backed guarantees to address market risks.
“For investors to come in, because this is a capital extensive technology … they need to identify the market risk and how do address this funding risk,” he said, adding that the solution often involves the government providing guaranteed buyers for the energy produced.
“You can see all this solar power purchase agreement. There is a partial purchase agreement, 25 years. So, your market risk is addressed with this power purchase agreement. Bank will come and loan you the money.
“This means companies know they will have customers for their clean energy for 25 years, making it easier to get bank loans and convince investors to put money into the project,” he said.
“Malaysia already have our first mega PPP project plus and we have also set up a PPP unit in 2009 and have implemented 513 PPP projects,” he said, pointing out that Malaysia has extensive experience in making these PPPs arrangements work.
He noted however that clean energy partnerships require a careful balance of leadership roles.
“Survey data shows that 77 per cent people feel that all this clean energy must be led by the government.
“Led by the government, meaning in the form of clear policy framework and also the infrastructure talent drives the talent agenda.
“From the business side, the private sector play an important role whereby they need to bring in the right technology, perhaps initially from overseas, but there is a need for them also to channel the knowledge to train locals,” said Ng.
“Interestingly, while people expect government leadership, in terms of finance, 70 per cent come from private, meaning most of the actual money for clean energy projects comes from private companies, not government budgets,” he added.
One key challenge is developing local expertise to maintain and operate new clean energy technologies.
“All this new technology, the parts, everything is coming from overseas. But how can we also build up our supply chain, SME, promote, groom them,” he said, adding that the solution involves partnerships that include knowledge transfer.
“There is a need for them to channel the knowledge to locals. But this is a chicken and egg story. I want to train locals whether we have the talent or not. That is where the government comes in to try to get the talent in,” he said.
New South Wales Trade and Investment Director Alia Jaafar said international partnerships can bring fresh perspectives, citing the Central-West Orana Zone as Australia’s first electricity transmission PPP project, which involved a consortium of five Australian companies.
“Our role is more on facilitation, for my role, I engage with the local stakeholders in Malaysia to understand what are the latest policies, what are the opportunities available,” she said.
“These are very important piece of information that will then provide feedback to our companies for them to assess whether Malaysia would be the right fit for their energy transition goals,” she said.
She said New South Wales has successfully used partnerships to build renewable energy zones, citing the Central-West Orana Zone, the first electricity transmission PPP project of its kind in Australia.
“The New South Wales state government facilitated this project and we supported a consortium of five companies, private sector players, all from Australia operating in this space.
“If we confine ourselves within our own state, even though our state is big, we would not have that additional value added because we are confined to only what we know, but we do not know what other people know,” she said pointing out how working with international partners brings fresh ideas.
Read more on Daily Express Sabah
