KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 25): Gentari Sdn Bhd, a green energy arm of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), has entered into a strategic partnership with Gamuda Bhd (KL:GAMUDA) to develop 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy and storage infrastructure in Malaysia, aimed at supplying power to hyperscale data centre operators.

Gentari’s unit Gentari Renewables Sdn Bhd and Gamuda’s subsidiary Gamuda Energy Sdn Bhd will jointly develop new solar photovoltaic power plants integrated with battery energy storage systems (BESS) structured under the Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS).

“As critical facilities for cloud computing, AI and digital services, hyperscale DCs (data centres) are projected to require over 5GW of reliable power by 2035,” Gentari and Gamuda said in a joint statement on Monday. 

“This underscores the urgent need to expand renewable energy capacity to meet rising demand — a need both parties are committed to addressing,” the companies said.

The collaboration brings together Gentari’s expertise in large-scale renewable energy development and operation with Gamuda’s proven regional track record in engineering, construction and delivery of complex infrastructure projects, including renewable energy.

“At Gentari, we are committed to working with partners like Gamuda to deliver practical, scalable clean energy projects that advance the nation’s net-zero ambitions and contribute to the global energy transition,” Gentari chief renewables officer Low Kian Min said.

Gamuda Energy director Joshua Kong Sing Hoe noted the importance of clean energy access in attracting and retaining foreign direct investments from global technology firms.

“With our combined strengths and bankability, we can support our data centre partner with a dedicated, sustainable and scalable pipeline of renewable energy to ensure these crucial DC facilities can operate at a reduced carbon footprint,” Kong said.