KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia plans to develop South-east Asia’s largest solar hybrid facility while pursuing hydrogen plants to achieve its 70 per cent goal of renewable energy capacity by 2050, said Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.

Sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional will lead the development of the solar hybrid plant, which has attracted global investments totalling RM6 billion (S$1.76 billion), said Mr Rafizi.

It will be among 10 projects worth RM25 billion he unveiled on Thursday under the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR).

“NETR is this administration’s effort to change the economics of renewable energy so that we could rapidly scale up our installed capacity with the right infrastructure and technology,” said Mr Rafizi.

Tenaga Nasional, Sime Darby Property, Malakoff and Petronas will also be part of the programme, according to the government.

In May, Malaysia raised the renewable energy target to 70 per cent of the total generation capacity by 2050, from 40 per cent. The target requires RM637 billion in investments.

The country’s renewable energy capacity stood at 25 per cent as at end-March, according to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority.

Malaysia recently lifted an export ban on renewal energy. The move allows local companies to develop capacity at scale and fulfil regional demands.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim previously called on more funding for the developing world in order to help countries achieve their green goals. BLOOMBERG