Malaysia's Bioeconomy Development Corporation has coordinated the signing of a Letter of Intent for a palm oil waste-to-Bio-CNG project in Terengganu, marking a further step in a bilateral renewable energy partnership with South Korea and a RM700 million investment pipeline targeting more than 20 biogas upgrading facilities nationwide.
The Terengganu State Palm Oil Mill Biogas Upgrading Project will convert Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) — a liquid by-product of palm oil milling — into Bio-Compressed Natural Gas for use in transportation, industry and power generation. The LOI was signed by South Korean partners Polaris Bio Co. and Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corporation (SLC), alongside Malaysian technology partner MTC Orec, which participates in Bioeconomy Corporation's Bio-based Accelerator programme.
The Terengganu facility is intended to serve as a reference model for the wider national rollout. Preliminary development is expected to begin in 2027, with commercial operations targeted for 2029. Full nationwide implementation of the programme is projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 384,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually.
The project is the first Malaysia-Korea initiative to receive formal recognition from the Malaysian government under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability issuing a Letter of Acknowledgement during the signing ceremony.
Mohd Khairul Fidzal Abdul Razak, CEO of Bioeconomy Corporation, said the project demonstrated that Malaysia's POME-to-Bio-CNG ambitions were moving beyond feasibility into implementation, at a time when global biogas and biomethane production is projected to grow by 22% between 2025 and 2030.
SLC President Song Byeong-eok said the organisation had achieved more than 8.82 million tonnes of greenhouse gas reductions since 2006 and looked forward to expanding its renewable energy cooperation with Malaysia through the project.
Malaysia and South Korea sign Bio-CNG partnership
