Malaysian energy infrastructure developer Gamuda Energy has partnered with renewable developer Gentari Renewables to construct up to 1.5GW of solar + battery energy storage (BESS) projects to power hyperscale data centers in Malaysia.

The companies stated that the initiative is in response to the massive energy demand from Malaysia’s data center sector, which is projected to require more than 5GW of reliable power by 2035.

"Malaysia's digital economy is growing rapidly, bringing with it rising demand for reliable and sustainable power. Expanding renewable energy capacity is not only critical for meeting this demand but also key to driving long-term growth," said Low Kian Min, Gentari's chief renewables officer.

The capacity additions will add significantly to Malaysia’s current solar generation capacity. At the end of 2024, the southeast Asian country had 2GW of installed solar capacity, representing 5 percent of its total installed capacity. By 2035, the country aims to have 40 percent renewable capacity.

The projects will be developed under the national Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) framework. Established in September 2024, CRESS permits corporations to directly contract power from renewable energy developers for electricity while paying a system access charge to the grid system operator for grid access.

Commenting on the agreement, Joshua Kong Sing Hoe, director of Gamuda Energy, said: “ Gamuda is proud to partner Gentari at the forefront of efforts to enable this. 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.”

Gamuda Energy is the energy arm of infrastructure developer Gamuda. It has several projects under development, including the 197.5MW Ulu Padas Hydroelectric Dam in Tenom and Sipitang, Sabah, expected to reach commercial operation in 2029.

At the start of the year, Gamuda announced its move into the data center sector after acquiring a 390-acre plot outside Kuala Lumpur that could reportedly support up to 1GW of capacity.

Gentari is the renewable energy arm of Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas. According to its website, the company has more than 8GW of installed and under-construction renewable assets across the world.

The company has increasingly targeted the data center and telco markets as a crucial offtaker.

Earlier this month, the company signed a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Amazon Web Services for 80MW of wind power from a project in Tamil Nadu, India. Before this, in May, Gentari signed a series of PPAs with Telekom Malaysia to power six of the telco’s sites across Malaysia.