Helios Solar AG, the Munich-headquartered holding company of the Helios Group, announced that its Malaysian subsidiary, Helios Photovoltaic Sdn Bhd, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Keong Hong Holdings Limited. Keong Hong is a building construction, property and hotel development group listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Exchange. The two parties plan to explore collaboration in renewable energy, solar, battery energy storage systems (BESS), data centres and related infrastructure projects. This pairing of solar power and data centres reflects a wider trend: Uruguay is preparing a $5.5 billion solar-powered data centre project with Solaria.

Five geographic areas targeted

According to the statement, the collaboration would cover Malaysia, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, the European Union and other markets. Helios would contribute its expertise in solar and renewable energy project development. Keong Hong would add more than four decades of construction, engineering and project management experience, the company says.

Keong Hong could take part in selected projects as a collaboration partner, as an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor or as an Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning (EPCC) contractor. In Europe, GES signed four contracts worth €225 million for 12 solar plants in Aragon, an example of construction contracts in the solar sector.

Data centres as a target segment

Helios says demand for clean power and digital infrastructure is rising across both of its core regions. Data centre operators in particular would be seeking reliable access to renewable electricity. According to the group, combining utility-scale solar, battery storage and construction capacity would allow it to offer integrated solutions to this segment.

Dato Ken Ong Thuan Ming, chief executive of Helios Solar AG, said: "Developing good renewable energy projects is only half the job – they also have to be built on time, to specification and at scale." He added that the alliance with Keong Hong would allow the group to offer customers, including data centre operators, a more complete path from concept to commissioning. He described the collaboration as supporting the ambition to grow Helios into a leading cross-border renewable energy platform linking Asia and Europe.

A non-binding preliminary framework

The MOU is non-binding. It sets out a preliminary framework for the parties to jointly identify and assess commercially viable opportunities. Participation in any specific project will remain subject to further evaluation, mutual agreement and, where applicable, the execution of definitive agreements. The statement does not specify any project, capacity or investment amount.