Hong Kong-based ESR Group is among the companies that have committed to becoming offtakers of Lestra Hexa JV Bhd, a 51% joint venture between UEM Lestra and I Squared Capital’s Hexa Renewables.

The first phase of the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) project will involve a RM2.5 billion investment to establish a 750-megawatt peak of solar capacity.

Supported by a battery energy storage system, the plant under the government’s Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) would generate more than 1,000 gigawatt-hours of green energy annually.

“The committed offtakers will be procuring green energy from the first phase of UEM Lestra-NETR hybrid solar power plant project set to be established across a 1,700-acre site in Segamat, Johor.

“The parties will work towards concluding the bilateral electricity supply contract in the coming months with a target to commence commercial operation by the end of 2027,” UEM Lestra said in a press release.

UEM Lestra CEO Harman Faiz Habib exchanged documents yesterday with David Aboud, the head of ESR Group Malaysia, witnessed by deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof, who is also the energy transition and water transformation minister, Energy Commission CEO Abdul Razib Dawood as well as UEM Group managing director and UEM Lestra chairman Amran Hafiz Affifudin.

“The involvement of ESR Group will further enhance the viability of this national endeavour. We are eager to collaborate with all parties involved, including the Johor government, to ensure the successful implementation of this ambitious project,” said Harman.

“It has the potential to attract more foreign direct investment, create quality jobs, and foster economic growth, while advancing Malaysia’s renewable energy landscape,” he added.

UEM Lestra’s project is the first under CRESS, an initiative launched in September aimed at supplying corporations with greater green energy supply options while helping them achieve environmental, social and governance commitments.