MIDA bridges collaboration between BiON, SIRIM Tech Venture
20 Nov 2020
BiON Group of Companies (BiON) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SIRIM Tech Venture Sdn Bhd (STV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SIRIM Bhd, towards strengthening the growth of the bio-energy ecosystem.
Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) chief executive officer Datuk Azman Mahmud said the MoU is aimed at developing potentials in the commercialisation of waste-to-energy (WTE) activities to ensure sustainable waste management in the country.
“The MoU is a testament to MIDA’s efforts in promoting investment activities which are supportive to the sustainable development goals in Malaysia,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
He added that MIDA, through its Domestic Investment Coordination Platform (DICP) unit, has coordinated with BiON and STV to establish technical cooperation between the two companies.
“This collaboration includes the distribution of gas energy through a virtual pipeline system and the establishment of a bio-energy hub to monetise agricultural and industrial waste,” he said.
Azman added that pilot tests will also be conducted on the production of bio natural gas from existing biogas power plants and on other projects related to WTE in Malaysia and abroad.
“The DICP unit assists companies in bridging their technology and financial gaps, offers direct facilitation and engagement with technology providers and financial institutions, including private equity and venture capital firms,” he said.
Azman added that the collaboration brings together key local and international players from the bio-energy value chain to explore the opportunities and challenges as well as to chart the way for the industry.
“MIDA continues to provide the impetus for domestic and foreign direct investors in expanding their business portfolios and accelerate investments amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
Azman highlighted that BiON has positioned itself as one of Malaysia’s most established WTE solutions providers and independent power producer through the construction, operation, and ownership of four biogas power plants which provides electricity to the national grid under the feed-in-tariff system.
He noted that BiON is the only company with biogas power plants operating two different systems in generating power through the treatment of palm oil mill effluent, and is also one of the only few fully-integrated service providers and operators in the country.
Meanwhile, STV has recently launched an integrated commercialisation platform known as TECH Ecosystem to encapsulate an effective ecosystem using the Technology Readiness Level (TRL), a methodology to determine technology maturity during the product development cycle.
Source:Bernama Posted on : 20 November 2020
