KUALA LUMPUR (April 8): Newly listed Northern Solar Holdings Bhd (KL:NORTHERN) plans to team up with a Chinese state-owned enterprise in seeking engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) jobs for large-scale solar (LSS) projects.

This appears to be a shift in position by Northern Star, which prior to its listing in February stated that it did not intend to tender for LSS projects but instead focus on rooftop solar programmes.

In a bourse filing on Tuesday, Northern Solar said the group had signed a memorandum of undertanding (MOU) with Northwest Electric Power Design Institute Co Ltd (NWEPDI).

NWEPDI, which specialises in power and infrastructure projects, is  a unit of China Power Engineering Consulting Group Co Ltd, which in turn is a subsidiary of state-owned China Energy Engineering Corporation Ltd.  

"The parties intend to collaborate with each other to pursue their mutual interest in bidding for the role of main contractor to provide EPCC services to successful developers which are awarded the LSS projects under the LSS Petra and LSS Petra 5+ programme," said Northern Star.

LSS Petra, which refers to the fifth round of LSS announced by the Energy Commission of Malaysia, offers a total capacity of 2,000 megawatts (MW). LSS Petra 5+ also has a capacity of 2,000MW, bringing the combined total to 4,000MW.

Northern Solar said that upon a successful bid for LSS projects, the parties will incorporate a project company, with Northern Solar holding a 51% stake and NWEPDI 49%.

The MOU is effective for a period of two years or within any extended period.

The agreement will be governed by the Singapore law, and disputes relating to its existence, validity, or termination will be resolved through arbitration administered by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, said Northern Star.

As of November 2024, Northern Solar’s tender book stood at RM1.8 billion, with an unbilled order book of RM83.2 million, which included RM68.6 million for EPCC projects.

Shares of Northern Solar were up 6.8% at 55 sen at Tuesday’s closing, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM217.58 million. The stock has fallen 12.7% from its listing price of 63 sen on Feb 3.

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