KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 15): Ipmuda Bhd, which will soon change its name to Jentayu Sustainables Bhd, said it has received the Sabah government’s approval for its proposal to develop two hydro plants in Sipitang with total capacity of 160 megawatts (MW).

Ipmuda said the State government gave the greenlight to the group for “exclusive water and land rights to develop run-of-river hydroelectric cascading schemes” in Sungai Maligan and Ulu Padas, Sipitang, with installed capacity of 31MW and 129MW respectively.

Letters of approval for the two proposals were given in August and September, it said. “However, due to confidentiality conditions imposed by the State, there was an embargo on the disclosure of these letters,” it added in a bourse filing.

Meanwhile Ipmuda’s wholly-owned subsidiary Oriole Power Sdn Bhd has entered into agreements with Kumpulan Yayasan Sabah’s (KYS) indirect subsidiaries to jointly carry out the two projects.

For the Sungai Magilan project, Oriole is setting up a 70:30 joint venture (JV) company with Inno Hydropower (M) Sdn Bhd.

For the Sungai Padas project, Oriole will set up a 70:20:10 JV company with Elopura Power Sdn Bhd and Petrosabah Sdn Bhd.

Inno Hydropower is a unit of Petrosabah, which is in turn a subsidiary of Innoprise Corp Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of KYS. Elopura, meanwhile, is a subsidiary of Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd.

“In furtherance to the above, the company and the parties are in the process of procuring all necessary approvals from the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the Energy Commission and other relevant State authorities to execute power purchase agreements (PPAs),” said Ipmuda.

The new projects add on to Ipmuda’s array of renewable projects taken over in recent times as the group seeks to turn around under a new leadership.

It had acquired Telekosang Hydro One Sdn Bhd and Telekosang Hydro Two Sdn Bhd, which are currently developing a 40MW small hydro plant in Kemabong, Tenom, Sabah with 21-year PPA.

The group also signed an agreement to acquire Jentayu Solar Sdn Bhd, which owns a 5.99MW solar power plant in Pokok Sena, Kedah.

Shares of Ipmuda rose six sen or 3.33% to RM1.86, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM188.71 million.