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Business
Monday June 21, 2010
Korean group to set up RM1.5b plant in M'sia
By ZAZALI MUSA
zaza@thestar.com.my
SENAI: South Korea-based industrial group STX Corp is investing = RM1.5bil to=20 set up a solar cells manufacturing plant at the Senai Hi-Tech Park = (SHTP) in=20 Johor.
Chief operating officer and deputy president Je Hyun Yoon said it = would be=20 the company=92s second solar cells plant after its facility in = Gumi-City,=20 Gyeongbuk, South Korea.
STX Corp ventured into the solar business by setting up a division = STX Solar=20 in November 2007, and its 57,949 sq m solar cells manufacturing plant = started=20 operating last year.
The plant consisting of a research and development centre currently = has 50MW=20 capacity annually with plan to increase it to 300MW within the next = three=20 years.
=93Work on the Senai plant will start this year and the project is = expected to=20 be completed within the next eight months or by the end of 2011,=92=92 = he told=20 StarBiz.
STX Corp, one of the leading industrial conglomerates in South Korea, = is=20 involved in four core business activities =96 shipping and trading, = shipbuilding=20 and machinery, plant and construction and energy.
It operates in more than 70 locations worldwide and is the 12th = largest=20 business group listed on the Korean Stock Exchange with total assets of = over=20 US$26bil. In 2009, the company recorded US$25bil in revenue.
Je said this after signing a memorandum of understanding between STX = Energy=20 and SHTP, represented by its chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Shukri=20 Tajuddin.
SHTP spans 460ha next to Senai Airport and is expected to be = partially=20 operational next March. To date, two tenants have confirmed they will = invest=20 RM2.3bil.
He said the Senai plant would be able to produce solar cells modules = and=20 solar farms generating 50MW in the initial years and the capacity would = be=20 increased to 100MW in the next five to seven years.
Je said products from the plant here would be exported to European = countries=20 and the United States.
Je said the company was hoping to play a significant role in helping = Malaysia=20 to become a major powerhouse of solar in the Asia-Pacific region.
He said although the costs of electricity produced by solar power = were still=20 higher than the existing power generation systems, it was eco-friendly = compared=20 to the systems that used fossil fuels.
Je said players in the solar power generation business was rapidly = developing=20 new technologies which would help to reduce the cost of producing = electricity=20 from solar power.
=93Consequently, prospect for the photovoltaic power generation = business is=20 bright as more countries are now actively looking at using renewable = energy as=20 the world=92s fossil fuels deposits are declining,=92=92 he said.
Je said the =93Grid Parity=94 =96 the point at which solar power = generation costs=20 became lower than the retail of general-purpose electricity, which would = occur=20 in 2013, the solar power business would boom.
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