Kuching, 4 October 2023 – Solarvest Borneo Sdn Bhd (“Solarvest Borneo”), a subsidiary of the clean energy expert, Solarvest Holdings Berhad (“Solarvest”), together with Centre for Technology Excellence Sarawak (“CENTEXS”) and Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus (“Swinburne”) are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to jointly develop a revolutionary hydrogen and electric prototype race car for entry into the Shell Eco-marathon Asia in 2024. The prestigious international engineering event will feature teams from all over the world competing with their respective, self-developed hydrogen and electric-powered race cars.
The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the 27th World Congress on Innovation and Technology (“WCIT”) and the 6th International Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (“IDECS”) 2023 event at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (“BCCK”).
This collaboration brings together the expertise and innovation of three industry leaders to propel the automotive world into a more sustainable future. The project will see students from Swinburne University’s engineering faculty and CENTEXS to be involved in the design and build of the prototype race car, giving the Sarawakian students invaluable experience and the opportunity to hone their engineering and competency skills, while playing a role in Malaysia’s growing sustainable mobility sector. The project is coordinated by CENTEXS and Solarvest, supervised by Joseph Koh, the first Malaysian to participate in the Eco-marathon event back in 2009. As a multi-year veteran of the race event, Koh’s experience and racing pedigree will prove invaluable to the current team in their bid for success at next year’s event. This collaboration is an initial effort that can lead to new innovations in partnership with the world-leading vehicle industry, bringing the proven and testbed technologies for commercialisation in the market.
Hydrogen transportation is not new in Sarawak, the world’s first hydrogen-powered smart tram, known in Sarawak as the Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) vehicle is now undergoing a two-month engineering run before beginning its stage 2 proof of concept (POC) exercise this November. Sarawak government is widely promoting the use of hydrogen-powered public vehicles among the people of Sarawak through the ART and existing hydrogen fuel cell buses.
This training collaboration between the three parties will help train and equip local Sarawakian students with the knowhow to be successful in Malaysia’s fast-growing renewable energy (RE) sector; Students who learn from the design and build of the prototype race car will be able to apply their knowledge and experience gained towards realising Sarawak’s RE-hydrogen ambitions in mobility.
Director of Solarvest Borneo, Mr. Leon Liew Chee Ing (刘骐英) expressed his enthusiasm about the collaboration: “Solarvest’s green energy solutions will power the development of this cutting-edge racing car, showcasing the potential of hydrogen and electric technologies in motorsports and beyond. Being born and raised in Sarawak, as a Sarawakian, I am grateful to be able to contribute to the local community with CENTEXS and Swinburne. We believe human capital development is a vital step in building a resilient and progressive society,” Mr. Leon commented.
Chief Executive Officer of CENTEXS, Tuan Haji Syeed Mohd Hussien Wan Abdul Rahman emphasised the significance of clean energy in motorsports, “This partnership marks a significant step forward in our commitment to driving innovation and nurturing talent in the future automotive industry for Sarawak. CENTEXS is offering industry-based competency programmes in green energy which are Certificate in Smart Solar Photovoltaic (PV), Certificate in Green Mobility and Storage, and Certificate in Green Hydrogen programmes in collaboration with Huawei and Solarvest to support the talent development in green energy industry for Sarawak.”
Ir. Prof. Lau Hieng Ho, Vice-Chancellor of Swinburne added, “At Swinburne, we are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of technology and fostering partnerships that drive positive change. As a university of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, we are driven by our vision of bringing people and technology together to build a better world. This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to research, innovation, and sustainability, and we are excited to contribute our expertise to this remarkable project.”
This collaboration is a part of Solarvest’s 5-Year Strategic Roadmap to transform into a regenerative clean energy expert.