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IT has been an exciting year for the power sector with the award of projects worth billions of ringgit and 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) looking to float the shares of its power assets held under Edra Global Energy Bhd. However, the initial public offering (IPO), which would have been among the largest of the year, has been postponed to the first quarter of 2015.

There was also the brouhaha over the YTL Power-SIPP consortium being disqualified from the award of Project 3B, which went to 1MDB despite the latter’s bid being seen as less attractive by market observers.

But both the powerful YTL and SIPP, a company linked to the Johor royal family, were appeased a few months later with a relatively large project. Without prior notice and via direct negotiation, the Energy Commission awarded a 1,100mw to 1,400mw CCGT (combined cycle gas turbine) plant to a consortium consisting of YTL Power, SIPP and Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

Here are some of the enigmatic figures who have influenced the industry this year. - by Ben Shane Lim

NM_1046_Tan-Sri-Francis-Yeoh-Sock-Ping

Tan Sri Francis Yeoh Sock Ping
Managing director, YTL Corp Bhd

Yeoh seldom talks to the press but when he does, he can ruffle feathers.

Some months after YTL Power lost the award of Project 3B to 1MDB — but only several days after being awarded Project 4A — Yeoh made an off-the-cuff statement, criticising the practice of cronyism in the country.

He took a lot of flak from both ends of the political spectrum as YTL Power’s first-generation power purchase agreements with the government were awarded via direct negotiation — and are widely perceived to have been excessively profitable for the Yeoh family.

Nonetheless, Yeoh got the last say when YTL Power withdrew from Project 4A, calling for an open and transparent tender. This leaves the Sultan of Johor’s SIPP Energy and Tenaga Nasional to take on the project.

Yeoh has not been in the public eye since.

NM_1046_Datuk-Abdul-Razak

Datuk Abdul Razak Abdul Majid
Chairman, Energy Commission

Those tasked with keeping the nation’s lights on have also been keeping the public in the dark. Abdul Razak has remained relatively quiet since he was appointed chairman of the Energy Commission. This is unexpected since he had been an outspoken supporter of open tenders last year, when he was CEO of MyPower Corp Bhd, a special purpose vehicle set up to advise the government on the transformation of the power sector.

However, under his watch, power projects again began to be awarded without calling for an open tender, often with little explanation for the rationale.

Just like Abdul Razak, Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili also has a big say in the approval of these projects. While vocal on the Selangor government’s water privatisation and crisis, Ongkili was quiet on the award of power projects.

However, he is relatively new to the power industry while Abdul Razak is a veteran and an ex-Tenaga man, who surely would be able to justify the award of these projects?

The silence of the authorities on some of the sudden turns in policy for the power sector has left industry players uncertain about future projects.

This uncertainty and lack of transparency have sparked public speculation about the independence and governance of the sector’s regulators, especially since most of the projects were awarded to 1MDB — an entity that has attracted no shortage of criticism for its opaque management.


This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on 22 - 28 December 2014.

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