Gentari, the clean energy unit of Malaysian oil and gas giant Petronas, aims to operate as much as 8 gigawatts of renewables in Australia by 2030, a goal that would make it one of the largest electricity suppliers by then if achieved.
The company’s first foray in the country was to buy the Australian assets of Germany’s Wirsol Energy in February. That move, reportedly costing almost $1bn, secured 422 megawatts of solar capacity with a further 765MW expansion possible.
A decision to proceed on that additional capacity including storage would probably be made by the first quarter of 2024, said Low Kian Min, Gentari’s chief renewables officer. Developments would be in solar, wind and batteries and could be through the company’s own investments, joint ventures or further purchases.
“The target for us is obviously to grow this market into a much larger one,” Low said in Sydney on Tuesday. “Our internal targets are [to have] between five and eight gigawatts of installed capacity by 2030.”
Australia’s well-publicised challenges of getting new renewables from the planning stage to operation – including a recent stalling of new projects winning investment approval – were not a deterrent to Gentari.
“All countries have challenges,” Low said. “It is quite fundamental for us that we actually get buy-in from the local stakeholders [when] we access their land and … build our investments.”
Initially, Gentari’s focus will be the eastern states that make up the national electricity market. It is also considering projects in Western Australia, particularly batteries coupled with solar, said Andrew Barson, the chief executive of Gentari Solar Australia.
Barson will oversee the Maryvale solar and energy storage project in New South Wales and the similar Barnawartha project in Victoria. Both are expected to reach final investment approval soon with a combined capacity of more than 500MW.
Gentari, which operates renewable plants in Malaysia and India, sees its renewable projects in Australia as a “first flag”, Low said. Investments in green hydrogen and later electric vehicle charging – the company’s two other pillars – may eventuate in the future.
One of the company’s biggest challenges was securing skilled staff amid a shortage of engineers and other professions, particularly in the renewable energy sector. “I think it will continue to be an issue for Australia,” Low said.
The company’s pedigree, stemming from a big fossil-fuel company, was not a hindrance to Gentari, he said.
“Gentari is an independently run company. We’ve got our own ambitions, and we’ve got our own targets to try and achieve to address the issue of transition from fossil fuels,” Low said. “I think we believe that gas plays a significant role in terms of the energy transition – the world is not ready to move to 100% renewables.”
