Masdar Starts Building 200-MW Chereh Floating Solar Plant in Malaysia

• Masdar, Citaglobal and TIZA Global started building the 200-MWac Chereh Dam floating solar plant in Pahang, Malaysia.
• Financing of about MYR 580 million ($143 million) from three international lenders closed on Oct. 27.
• The plant will sell power to Tenaga Nasional for 21 years, with commercial operation targeted for March 2028.

Masdar, Citaglobal Berhad and TIZA Global Sdn Bhd have started building the 200-MW Chereh Dam floating solar plant in Pahang, Malaysia. Financing of about MYR 580 million ($143 million) closed on Oct. 27, Masdar said on Oct. 29.

The debt came in Malaysian ringgit from three international lenders, which the statement did not name. Chereh Solar Sdn Bhd, the partners' project company, will sell the output to national utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) for 21 years from commercial operation. The power purchase agreement was signed in December 2025.

Masdar's December announcement put the plant at more than 300 MWp (200 MWac) on about 950 acres. The consortium won the site in Malaysia's Large Scale Solar (LSS) Cycle 5+ tender with the lowest tariff in the floating category. The round approved 13 projects totalling 1,975 MWac, including a separate 500-MWac quota for solar on water, the energy transition ministry PETRA said.

The project in numbers

• 200 MWac, or more than 300 MWp, on about 950 acres.
• MYR 2.9 million ($713,000) of debt per MWac of capacity (list.solar calculation).
• 49% of the project company is held by Masdar, 30% by Citaglobal Renewable Energy and 21% by TIZA Global, a Citaglobal filing shows.
• 40% of the 500-MWac floating quota in the LSS PETRA 5+ round, and about 10% of all 1,975 MWac it approved (list.solar calculation).
• 100,000 homes' worth of electricity, or about 500 homes per MWac (list.solar calculation).
• 1,500 jobs during development and construction, Masdar said.

Chereh is Masdar's first project in Malaysia. It is also the first under a 10-GW renewable roadmap the Abu Dhabi company agreed with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority in 2023. Masdar's 145-MWac (192-MWp) Cirata floating plant in West Java, Indonesia, opened in November 2023. Masdar and PLN Nusantara Power have agreed plans for up to 500 MW more at Cirata. Masdar is also studying a floating installation at the Murum reservoir in Sarawak.

"With long-term electricity sales contracted to TNB, the priority now is to deliver the project and bring it into operation," said Mohamad Norza Zakaria, executive chairman and president of Citaglobal and TIZA Global.

The partners have signed a site agreement with Pahang Water & Energy Resources. Masdar expects operations to begin in 2028, and Citaglobal's Bursa Malaysia filing puts the targeted commercial operation date under the PPA at March 2028.