by Ganesh Sahathevan
Gamuda has a long and illustrious history in its home country, Malaysia, as this writer well knows. In 1997 another reporter and he revealed that Gamuda was launching an IPO on the basis of an incomplete prospectus, based on a project funded by the Malaysian national superannuation fund at ridiculously low rates. We were sacked for doing so.
Gamuda's cash surpluses that are now enabling its expansion into Australian wind and solar, come from toll road operations imposed on users in Malaysia's Klang Valley.It is not unfair to say that it ranks among Malaysia's most reviled, for that that reason alone.
Gamuda's owners and managers are not known to make money on infrastructure projects without massive government backing. That Gamuda can see in Australian renewables opportunities to make money like its does in Malaysia should concern all Australian taxpayers.
TO BE READ WITH
Malaysian giant plans to build up to 2GW Australian wind and solar in five years
Image:Gamuda Bhd
Mar 25, 2024
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RENEWABLES
Malaysian infrastructure giant Gamuda Berhad has announced it will turn its Australian market focus to renewables, with plans to build a 1 to 2 gigawatt portfolio of wind and solar projects within five years.
Gamuda, which in Australia is developing three major road and rail projects worth a total of $4.5 billion, says it also intends to bid for major EPC contracts in solar, wind, pumped hydro and transmission network upgrades and expansion.
It says it aims to generate $2 billion revenue from energy projects alone over the coming half-decade.
“Our vision is to become a leading sustainable energy contractor and a key equity partner for the long term with a particular focus on solar, wind, pumped hydro and transmission,” said Gamuda CEO Ewan Yee.
“This vision builds upon our ongoing success in the Australia infrastructure market and is informed by our energy and water infrastructure experience across a number of projects globally.
“We also see our demonstrated key strengths in completing complex large-scale linear construction, tunnelling, hydro and geotech in Australia as highly suited to now transition to energy projects,” Yee said.
This sort of skill set will be very welcome in Australia as the national push to 82 per cent renewables by 2030 gathers pace. Of particular interest is Gamuda Berhad’s shareholding in major Malaysian solar contracting company, ERS Energy, which offers access to a “robust” PV supply chain.
Jarred Hardman, Gamuda Engineering Australia’s chief strategy and growth officer, says the company brings with it a “ready to go” solution to help meet the rapidly approaching renewable targets.
“By looking to acquire development rights to shovel-ready projects we can construct and own in solar and wind, while we also secure EPC contracts in transmission and pumped hydro,” Hardman says.
“Our goal is to provide an end-to-end solution to fast-track energy projects and quickly gain a foothold, in keeping with our strategy in infrastructure which has seen us build a $4.5 billion workbook within two to three years.”
Gamuda’s push into Australian renewables follows that of Malaysia oil giant Petronas, whose renewables arm Gentari last year unveiled plans to build a portfolio of up to 8GW of solar, wind and storage capacity in Australia.
Gentari in February 2023 year took control of Wirsol Australia, a leading solar developer, before unveiling the company’s rebranding and expansion plans at a launch event in Sydney in September.
The company’s plans include big investments in India, Malaysia, and between 5GW and 8GW of renewables and storage capacity in Australia, with a mix of green fields development and buying existing assets.
Sophie Vorrath
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. She is the co-host of the Solar Insiders Podcast. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
