Thailand’s multinational power conglomerate B.Grimm Power Public Company Ltd is looking to expand its footprint in Malaysia by investing more than US$1 billion, or RM4.26 billion, in Malaysia’s fast-growing renewable energy (RE) and power sectors, including solar plant installations, over the next few years.
B.Grimm’s chairman and CEO Harald Link said this would be an expansion for the firm, which has already invested around RM200 million in Malaysia’s RE sector to date.
“B.Grimm can continue to bring its expertise in solar power plants, industrial power, RE as well as in independent power producers (IPPs) to Malaysia,” he told Bernama in an interview.
Link said B.Grimm was now looking to strengthen its presence in Malaysia after acquiring a 45% stake in reNIKOLA Holdings Sdn Bhd in 2021 for RM367 million in cash.
The acquisition was made through its wholly owned subsidiary, B. Grimm Power Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
B. Grimm had previously injected RM152.5 million into reNIKOLA and the company acquired two solar power projects, located in Kuala Muda in Kedah and Machang in Kelantan with a total installed capacity of 90 MegaWatts (MW). Both the Kuala Muda and Machang projects were entered into with a 21-year power purchase agreement with Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).
ReNIKOLA Holdings also owns solar power assets in Arau, Perlis, Gebeng and Pekan in Pahang.
It also plans to develop a large-scale solar plant in Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah (pending the issuance of a licence), with a capacity totalling 418 MegaWatt-peak on completion.
Elaborating on B. Grimm’s expertise, he said: “the IPP is very easy for us. Whether you build a 140MW plant or a 1,400MW plant, it’s the same. It’s just that the turbine is a bit bigger or smaller, but the complexity is the same”.
“However, the industrial power plant is more complex if you deliver to the state or country” for which B. Grimm has the expertise, having made a name regionally and globally.
B. Grimm had also incorporated a company selling spare parts for air conditioners and refrigerators 20 years ago. But now, B. Grimm is trying to get into the combined cycle gas business in Malaysia and exploring opportunities for gas-fired power projects.
“We have many projects in Thailand and we are the largest supplier of power in 10 special economic zones, and we are also active in three countries, namely Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam,” he said.
Apart from gas-based energy, B. Grimm supplies solar power from rooftops and batteries.
Despite the perception that Malaysia has limited capacity for wind energy due to geographic and climate factors, Link emphasised that extracting power from wind energy is possible.
“We were the first private entity to build an offshore wind plant in South Korea. We built it with turbines, with each wind turbine standing between 100 and 150m tall, with the generator, blades and gearbox located at the top. The gearbox is used to transfer power,” he said.
B. Grimm has also invested in a company in Germany that eliminates the need for a gearbox, which results in fewer mechanical issues and reduces the risk of breakdowns.
