Sime Darby Plantation Plans Green Revenue Streams

By Ying Xian Wong

Sime Darby Plantation will develop a 1,000-acre industrial green park in Malaysia, as part of the palm oil giant's strategy to use its vast landbank to venture into solar farms and other new business lines.

SDP said Tuesday that it will jointly develop the industrial park in Perak state with its largest shareholder, state investment company Permodalan Nasional. The development will feature 660 acres of solar farms and seek to attract investment in semiconductors, among others, SDP said.

SDP will own and operate the solar farms, which it said would help it achieve its net-zero emissions goals.

The company added that it plans to identify less productive agricultural lands and convert them into solar farms in the future, adding that it expects renewable energy to contribute "significantly" to operations in the next five years.

It also said it is in active discussions with state agencies to develop other industrial parks, and that it is exploring partnerships to develop data centers.

SDP operates 234 plantation estates in countries including Malaysia and Indonesia, the world's top producers of palm oil.

Write to Ying Xian Wong at yingxian.wong@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 07, 2024 00:24 ET (04:24 GMT)

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