The Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute is panning a large-scale solar project that will integrate agriculture and animal husbandry in the Sabah region. According to the Institute, the 25,000 hectares of land required for these projects will hold 150,000 cattle and grow forage crops such as hemp, corn, wheat and hay. Realizing the importance of solar energy system, the three institutes have already secured $50 million for the project’s first, 200 MW phase.

The project will be jointly developed by NET Kovina Co, Ltd, the South Korean biomass expert, and Max legacy Sdn Bhd, the Malaysian-South Korea company. Representatives of the two companies and MARii staff met with Datuk Darell, the Minister of international trade and industry of Malaysia, to discuss more details of the project.

According to reports, chief executive officer Datuk Madani Sahari told Malaysian media: "The project will create a new concept of smart farming, making the first, second, third and fourth industries - because it contains a livestock and industrial complex, as well as manufacturing and service industries - fully developed. More importantly, the project will also work with local farmers to grow forage crops such as hemp, corn, wheat and hay to feed livestock. " From the report details, we can learn that this project is beneficial rather than harmful to the country.

For smart farming, the solar ground structure is the most suitable solution, which not only will not occupy too much space on the farm, but also will be more secure and stable. Besides, considering the solar panel mounting, solar ground mounting system is a kind of fast and quick installation that economizes manpower as well as material resources.

The recently announced 500 MW solar tender attracted 112 bids involving renewable energy facilities with a total capacity of more than 6.73 GW. The first round of national procurement plan in 2016 limits the size of the proposed project to 50 megawatts and allocates 200 MW of power generation capacity, as well as an additional 50 MW in Sabah. The second round of auctions was held in 2017, with a total of 360 MW of solar energy and 100 MW on Sabah and Labuan islands allocated, with a single project limited to 30 MW. We will witness the achievement of this great project in the near future.