PETALING JAYA: Ditrolic Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd has secured conditional approval from Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) to import and supply up to 600MW alternating current (MWac) of renewable electricity from Johor to Singapore, marking a key regulatory milestone for its cross-border green electricity project.
The approval was granted to its unit Southern Solar Alliance Pte Ltd and will allow the company to advance the project’s technical, commercial and regulatory development towards final approval.
The proposed export forms the first phase of the Southern Johor Renewable Energy Corridor (SJREC), a long-term renewable energy infrastructure initiative being developed by Permodalan Darul Ta’zim (PDT), Ditrolic Energy and the International Finance Corp or IFC.
SJREC is planned over a 15-year horizon along Johor’s east coast and is intended to support both domestic and cross-border electricity demand, including developments within the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ).
The initial phase will be supported by about four gigawatts peak or GWp of solar generation capacity and 5.1 gigawatt-hours or GWh of utility-scale battery energy storage systems or Bess, enabling firmer and more dispatchable green electricity supply.
Ditrolic Energy group chief executive officer Tham Chee Aun said the conditional approval reflected confidence in the proposed project’s scale and technical robustness.
“This conditional approval is an important milestone for the company and reflects strong confidence in the technical robustness, scale and reliability of our energy import project under the SJREC platform,” he said in a statement.
He added the development demonstrated how cooperation between the Johor state government, the Malaysian federal government, Singapore and the private sector could translate policy objectives into bankable cross-border clean energy projects.
The project has already attracted substantial market interest, with close to 90% of its planned output receiving offtake interest from Singapore-based users.
These include companies in transport and urban mobility, airport and port operations, multinational manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, logistics, real estate and industrial park development.
PDT chief executive officer Datuk Ramlee Rahman said SJREC was intended to position Johor as a large-scale renewable energy hub capable of serving both domestic users and export markets.
“With this first phase progressing under EMA’s conditional approval, we are advancing the critical infrastructure needed to underpin the JS-SEZ,” he said.
Besides exports to Singapore, SJREC is also expected to support local supply through Malaysia’s Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme and Self-Consumption programme.
The first batch of power purchase agreements with local electricity offtakers is scheduled to be signed within the next three months. First green electricity delivery under SJREC is expected as early as 2028, ahead of cross-border exports to Singapore.
The first phase of the export project is targeted to begin commercial operations from 2029, aligned with the commissioning of a new cross-border interconnector and subject to regulatory and technical approvals in both countries.
