September 2, 2022
ALOR SETAR – A ship-to-ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) transfer hub, re-gassification terminal and a gas power plant will be built along the coastline of Kedah, midway between Langkawi and Penang.
Costing RM14.4bil, these are approved to be built off Yan, a sprawling agricultural district of padi fields.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced this integrated project yesterday when he visited Yan’s padi field area near Pulau Bunting, about 9km from Yan town.
He said this marks Kedah’s second approved mega project this year after the Rubber City Project in Padang Terap, which was valued at RM10bil and launched in February.
“Rubber City is expected to produce about 15,000 job opportunities for the locals by 2025.
“Now, together with this integrated gas supply centre and power plant in Yan, both projects valued at a total of RM24.4bil show that the state has never been neglected by the Federal Government,” he said.
With him were Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
In May last year, Dr Wee announced that Yan was gazetted as a federal port to bolster Malaysia’s shipping industry.
The Yan project will be built by the MMC Group and SKS Corporation Sdn Bhd.
MMC, a utility and infrastructure conglomerate, is part of tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary’s business empire.
MMC Corporation Bhd chairman Tan Sri Tajuddin Atan said with the use of holistic and high-tech methods with long-term investments, the project will develop the central region of Kedah.
He added that MMC was ready to offer its expertise to Kedah for it to have a liquid bulk cargo sea terminal in the future, too.
“The current project consists of three main segments.
“The first segment is the ship-to-ship (STS) gas transfer hub, a coastal port for transferring LNG cargo and petroleum products between ships in the harbour area that covers 554sq km with a distance of about 20 nautical miles from the shore and depths of over 30m.
“Yan’s waters are ideal at the entry point to the Straits of Malacca, where over 100,000 ships cross the channel each year.
“The second segment is the combined cycle gas turbine power plant with a capacity of 1,600MW, expected to be completed in 2029.
“The third segment will be an LNG re-gassification terminal, to be known as RGT Yan, that will serve as a corridor entry for natural gas in the northern region and the third in Peninsular Malaysia after RGT Sungai Udang (central) and RGT Pengerang (south).
“It will function as a re-gassing terminal for LNG in the form of a floating storage unit docked near the shore for LNG to be imported and modified into natural gas for factories and hotels,” he said.
Earlier, in Baling, Ismail Sabri visited several areas in Kampung Iboi, which was struck by a flash flood in July.
He presented each flood victim with RM2,500 cash aid, totalling RM3.6mil, and announced the approval of RM14.8mil to rebuild a total of 18 bridges.
A further RM3mil will be channelled to build safer homes for villagers living near rivers in Baling.
The incident was caused by a water surge phenomenon in the Gunung Inai area, resulting in repeated flash floods that hit several villages there.
It claimed six lives and affected over 800 homes.