Source : http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/21/business/6419789&sec=business
By ZAZALI MUSA
zaza@thestar.com.my
SENAI: South Korea-based industrial group STX Corp is investing RM1.5bil to set up a solar cells manufacturing plant at the Senai Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) in Johor.
Chief operating officer and deputy president Je Hyun Yoon said it would be the company’s second solar cells plant after its facility in Gumi-City, Gyeongbuk, South Korea.
STX Corp ventured into the solar business by setting up a division STX Solar in November 2007, and its 57,949 sq m solar cells manufacturing plant started operating last year.
The plant consisting of a research and development centre currently has 50MW capacity annually with plan to increase it to 300MW within the next three years.
Work on the Senai plant will start this year and the project is expected to be completed within the next eight months or by the end of 2011,’’ he told StarBiz.
STX Corp, one of the leading industrial conglomerates in South Korea, is involved in four core business activities – shipping and trading, shipbuilding and machinery, plant and construction and energy.
It operates in more than 70 locations worldwide and is the 12th largest business group listed on the Korean Stock Exchange with total assets of over US$26bil. In 2009, the company recorded US$25bil in revenue.
Je said this after signing a memorandum of understanding between STX Energy and SHTP, represented by its chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Shukri Tajuddin.
SHTP spans 460ha next to Senai Airport and is expected to be partially operational next March. To date, two tenants have confirmed they will invest RM2.3bil.
He said the Senai plant would be able to produce solar cells modules and solar farms generating 50MW in the initial years and the capacity would be increased to 100MW in the next five to seven years.
Je said products from the plant here would be exported to European countries and the United States.
Je said the company was hoping to play a significant role in helping Malaysia to become a major powerhouse of solar in the Asia-Pacific region.
He said although the costs of electricity produced by solar power were still higher than the existing power generation systems, it was eco-friendly compared to the systems that used fossil fuels.
Je said players in the solar power generation business was rapidly developing new technologies which would help to reduce the cost of producing electricity from solar power.
“Consequently, prospect for the photovoltaic power generation business is bright as more countries are now actively looking at using renewable energy as the world’s fossil fuels deposits are declining,’’ he said.
Je said the “Grid Parity” – the point at which solar power generation costs became lower than the retail of general-purpose electricity, which would occur in 2013, the solar power business would boom.
