Solarvest Borneo Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Malaysian clean energy firm Solarvest Holdings Berhad, has on Wednesday inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Centre for Technology Excellence Sarawak (CENTEXS) and Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Huawei Malaysia) to launch a green energy lab in Kuching, Sarawak to train and develop local talents to support Borneo’s growth in the clean energy industry.

The lab will provide green energy-related learning programme involving solar, green mobility, battery storage systems, as well as green hydrogen, Solarvest said in a statement.

According to the statement, the learning and talent partnership is intended to spur research and development collaboration and intellectual property creation in clean energy solutions.

“As envisioned by the Sarawak government to transform the state into a regional renewable energy powerhouse, this programme is timely in nurturing the talents needed for the industry to attain the vision,” said Director of Solarvest Borneo Leon Liew Chee Ing.

“Being born and raised in Sarawak, as a Sarawakian, I am grateful to be able to contribute to the local community with CENTEXS,

“Together with the partnership with Huawei Malaysia, we believe human capital development is a vital step in building a resilient and progressive society,” he added.

CENTEXS Chief Executive Officer Syeed Mohd Hussien Wan Abdul Rahman said the firm is cognisant of the importance of equipping our local talents with relevant hands-on trainings to enable seamless integration into the industry workforce.

“Green Energy Lab has developed three programme, namely Solar, Green Mobility and Storage and Green Hydrogen. Hence, we are pleased to offer our facilities as testbeds for these programme,

“This is a small step, but a meaningful one as we help Sarawak meet its aspiration for green power generation as outlined in the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030,” he added.

Huawei Malaysia Digital Power Business Unit Vice President Chong Chern Peng said the firm is committed to providing the best green technology and in continuously skiling local talents in this area as it heads towards fulfilling the government’s carbon neutrality goals.

“We believe the development of local talents in Sarawak will help us capture and fulfill the ever-growing green industry market needs and demands. We hope the programme offered under this collaboration are able to attract and enhance their employability,

“This will help the industry to progress towards creating a self-generating energy environment where the goal of carbon neutrality can be realised,” he added.

Solarvest is a clean energy firm with a multi-national presence across Asia-Pacific. The Malaysia-based company started as a one-stop solar photovoltaic system solution provider for residential, commercial and industrial, and utility-scale solar farms.

Today, the firm owns renewable energy generation plants with a cumulative capacity of over 50MW (on-going and completed).

The company is currently venturing into other clean energy solutions including, among others, energy efficiency, low-carbon mobility, and renewable energy certificates

This collaboration is a part of Solarvest’s 5-Year strategic roadmap to transform into a regenerative clean energy expert.

As the group expands vertically in the clean energy ecosystem, it has launched several green initiatives, including the green mobility arm, “PowerBee” in November 2022.

CENTEXS was established by Sarawak state government to train more people on technical skills that the state needs to industrialize the economy.

The firm was given the responsibility to train and upskill the young generation and organization workforce to meet the technical needs and requirements of the state industries focusing on the industry of oil and gas, electrical, construction, textile and heritage, hospitality and tourism, digital and agriculture.

Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices.

The firm has more than 195,000 employees, and it operates in more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.

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