SUBANG JAYA: Sime Darby Offshore Engineering Sdn Bhd (SDOE), a subsidiary of conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd, had this morning partnered with Gas Malaysia Bhd to create a new joint venture (JV), Sime Darby Gas Malaysia Bio-CNG Sdn Bhd (SDGM).
The JV, which SDOE has a 51 per cent stake and the remaining 49 per cent held by Gas Malaysia, is set up mainly to pursue business opportunities in the bio-compressed natural gas (Bio-CNG) value chain.
The Bio-CNG is a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative energy source to fossil fuels as it is generated from residues and waste materials which reduces greenhouse emissions.
Executive vice president of Sime Darby's Energy & Utilities (Non-China Operations) division, Alan Hamzah Sendut said the JV is in line with the group's aim of making SDOE an integrated engineering service player in the Bio-CNG business.
"We foresee vast economic potential and development of niche technical skill sets from the synergies between SDOE and Gas Malaysia," he said.
SDOE had first ventured into Bio-CNG business in 2010 and had installed and commissioned its first full scale Bio-CNG plant to Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) in February this year. It is the first plant in Malaysia to produce Bio-CNG and has a production capacity of 80,000 MMBtu per annum.
The SDGM is one of the four agreements being signed at the 4th Biogas Asia Pacific Forum 2015, and was witnessed by Minister of Science Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin, Kinabatangan Member of Parliament and Felcra chairman Datuk Bung Moktar Radin and Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia (SEDA) chief operating officer Datuk Dr Ali Askar.
The three other agreements were signed between Megagreen Energy Sdn Bhd with Technology Nasional Bhd; Megagreen with Felcra; and Green & Smart Sdn Bhd with FGV. All these deals related to the provision of electricity in rural areas while reducing carbon dioxide and pollution with the use of biogas technology.
Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation Sdn Bhd (Biotech Corp) chief executive officer Datuk Dr Mohd Nazlee Kamal said it is important for companies to work together in order to further intensify the local biogas sector.
"The importance of biogas trapping is evident from its inclusion as one of the eight Entry Point Projects (EPPs) of the palm oil sector under the government's National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) policy," he said.
"In order to support this initiative, it is crucial for us to form partnership and stimulate strategic synergies with all the stakeholders."
He later told reporters on the sidelines of the forum that he expects more companies to announce strategic collaboration this year, given the massive long term potential of the biogas segment.
"We hope to see more collaboration from companies in this segment this year especially from new players. We have heard interest from international entities like United Kingdom's Harlequin Services (UK) Ltd for biogas but we are hoping to gather more interest from local public listed companies such as Genting Group Bhd, Sunway Group and the likes going forward," he said.
The two-day conference is expected to see the participation of 400 delegates from 27 countries.