Ashiqin Ariffin
KUALA LUMPUR: Malakoff Corporation Bhd, an established player in the energy and waste management sectors, has unveiled what it deems as a "bold rebranding".
Malakoff's renewed direction steers it to diversify its portfolio of businesses by creating three new brand entities - Malakoff Green Solutions, Malakoff Environmental Solutions and Malakoff Energy.
Established in 1975, Malakoff is Malaysia's largest independent power producer and has carved out a reputation with its track record of profitability and results-driven efficiency.
After its acquisition of Alam Flora Sdn Bhd in 2019, Malakoff also became one of the country's largest environmental services providers, managing 5,748 tonnes of waste daily.
Malakoff Green Solutions will oversee the group's renewable energy drive through solar, small hydro and carbon free mobility infrastructure.
Malakoff Environmental Solutions will focus on recycling, marine waste, hazardous waste, waste management, water desalination and waste-to-energy projects, while Malakoff Energy on power, gas and district cooling solutions.
Malakoff said this pivot in business direction towards sustainability and a circular economy was captured in its new corporate identity by the three fins representing its focus on people, planet and prosperity.
Guided by the United Nations' SDGs, Malakoff has further set ambitious internal targets to signal its commitment to sustainability.
These include decarbonisation efforts aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 30 per cent by 2031 and increasing revenue from renewable energy and environmental solutions by 50 per cent within the next decade.
Chairman Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Tajuddin Ali said the rebranding was built on Malakoff's ongoing strategic transformation to shape a greener future.
The idea of rebranding stemmed from the effort to change the public perception of Malakoff and its subsidiaries such as Alam Flora, he added.
"While Malakoff has always been socially and environmentally conscious, we believed that this was an ideal time to step up and refine our purpose and streamline our values," Tajuddin said at the launch by Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad today.
Commending Malakoff's efforts, Nik Nazmi said while the government was developing policies that would accelerate the transition to carbon neutrality, the country was reliant on the cooperation and inventiveness of all stakeholders.
"With this context, Malakoff's refreshed business direction is an outstanding example of how established players like Malakoff can lead the charge towards enabling a sustainable future with newer and more sustainable energy and environmental solutions," he added.
Managing director Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib said Malakoff's transition to renewable and clean energy was an ongoing process since 2021.
Malakoff was aware of the expiry of the Power Purchase Agreement in 2031 and 2041, he added, reiterating that as a listed company, it had to ensure continuity of the business by moving forward guided by sustainable framework.
Anwar said part of the long-term plan was to be able to switch off coal usage.
However, he said at the moment, the company was prioritising efforts to reduce carbon emission from any megawatt that it was generating.
On capex allocation, Anwar said all the projects or capex allocation were based on the projects that the company secured through bidding.
"The more projects that we bid for RE, the more capex will be allocated for it. For example, we are working on a small hydro project in Kelantan that will give us 84 gigawatt and the capex itself will give us about RM1.2 billion.
"Similar to solar, it is based on the quotation that have been provided by vendors, but our internal target is to grow 50 to 100 megawatts of solar on annual basis whether it's from a mixture of rooftop solar, or through a large scale production," he said.