PETALING JAYA: The final unit of the newly launched Edra Melaka Power Plant (EMPP) comprising three generating blocks entered full commercial operation at midnight on Feb 28 this year.

       The EMPP, which is built, owned and operated by Edra Power Holdings Sdn Bhd’s wholly owned subsidiary – Edra Energy Sdn Bhd – is now adding 2,242 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Malaysia’s national grid.

       “This makes it the largest combined cycle gas turbine power plant in South-East Asia,” said Edra in a statement.

       The first and second generating blocks achieved their commerical operation date on Dec 16, 2021 and Jan 31, 2022, respectively.

       Edra Power chairman Dai Honggang said this project would contribute significantly to the nation’s energy needs, noting that it would also add a wide range of spillover economic benefits including attracting new investments, as well as boosting industrial and commercial development in Melaka.

       “The timing is apt as the demand for electricity has shown improvement in tandem with the economic reopening to support the country’s transition into the Covid-19 endemic phase. And EMPP’s contribution to the country’s generation capacity will definitely complement the growth of the various economic sectors.

       “Together as a team, we at Edra Power will continue to put our utmost efforts to ensure EMPP provides safe and clean power supply to the people of Melaka and Peninsular Malaysia with the highest efficiency, reliability and safety standards,” Dai added.

       To-date, EMPP has achieved over 14 million safe man-hours without any lost time injury.

       Moving forward, Dai said the power plant would be generating around 19.6 billion kilowatt hour of electricity annually, contributing about 12% of the total power demand in Peninsular Malaysia, equivalent to powering up to four million homes for the next 21 years.