WORLD'S FIRST SOLAR POWERED STADIUM IN TAIWAN

Taiwan recently finished construction on a solar-powered stadium that will generate 100% of its electricity

from photovoltaic technology Designed by Toyo Ito,the 50,000-seat arena will officially open later this year
to welcome the 2009 World G ames which features many sports not included in the Olympics Such as parachuting, tenpin bowling and rugby sevens .

It has a 14,155m2 solar roof that can churn out 1.14 million kWh (gigawatt hours) of electricity per year. This is enough to power the building's 3,300 lights and two giant television screens. The 8,844 solar panels can power up 80% of the surrounding neighborhood when the stadium is unused. The Taiwanese government intends to sell the excess capacity generated during the hot summers. Large enough to hold 55,000 spectators, it has been built for US$150m

Buses Drive over Cars in China

In order to reduce pollution, China has taken a giant step in public transportation. Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment company is developing a "3D Express Coach" (also known as a "three-dimensional fast bus") whereby it will move above the current traffic.

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RM30 Billion MRT Project - Gamuda & MMC Joint Venture

Ambitious, but positive. A new MRT system in the Klang Valley costing more than RM30b is under the government’s study. Gamuda and MMC have teamed up yet again for the third time, with a proposal submitted. Although the partnership may not bag the entire RM30b, their experience enhances their resume in securing at least a portion of the works. It will be positive for Gamuda (Buy; TP: RM3.80) and the construction sector if the project takes off. At this juncture, project bankability and the form of participation are our main questions.

Three lines. The New Straits Times today headlined a special task force being set up within the Cabinet Committee on Public Transport to study a proposal for three new mass rapid transit lines (MRT) in the Klang Valley costing more than RM30b. Gamuda and MMC have submitted a joint proposal for this massive project to integrate the existing monorail and light rail transit (LRT) systems. The Edge Daily had reported yesterday on this proposal, but the details were scant.

Mostly underground. The three lines will comprise: (i) Sg Buloh-Kota Damansara-KL-Cheras-Kajang, (ii) Sg Buloh-Kepong-KL-Serdang, and (iii) a loop surrounding KL’s central business district (CBD). The first MRT line (i), in our view, seems to run on a parallel alignment with the proposed new LRT line that runs from Kota Damansara to Cheras (and potentially ending at Balakong) where MRCB is in the running. The proposed MRT lines will be mostly underground especially in the CBD.

Positive for Gamuda. The project will be put on open bidding which is a positive move away from the traditional way of contract awards, to the project proposers. Gamuda’s experience in tunnel works especially in highly densed traffic areas seen in the SMART and Kaohsiung MRT projects will add weight to its resume in vying for this new Klang Valley MRT project. We expect this to be a design-and-build project. It will
thus allow Gamuda to control and secure better construction margins riding on its strong design engineering capability.

Our questions. Project bankability and the form of participation are our main questions. The existing Klang Valley LRT and monorail systems, originally awarded under the build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) mode, suffered massive losses and were eventually taken over by the government, via Syarikat Prasanara Negara Bhd. The proposal LRT extension lines will also be funded by Prasanara. Although Prasanara’s debts are off the government’s balance sheet, it remains to be seen on the amount of debt it can further raise to fund the new MRT system.

Public-private partnership? We would not be surprised if the project is undertaken on a public-private partnership basis, a form of working arrangement to be emphasized in the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP), to be unveiled this Thursday. If this is the case, the project’s attractiveness to the contractors would depend on the terms of participation. We do not expect this project to be awarded anytime soon due to the massive cost
and many issues to be ironed out. If there is a go-ahead, we would expect construction to start towards the latter half of the 10MP (2011-2015) the earliest, running into the end of the 11MP (2016-2020).

by Maybank Investment Bank

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