Malakoff Power Berhad (“MPB”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Malakoff Corporation Berhad (“Malakoff”), in collaboration with Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (“UTeM”), has been awarded the 'Best Paper Award' for their research titled "Enhancing Predictive Capability in Combined Cycle Power Plants (“CCPP”): A Comparative Analysis of AI Feature Selection Techniques and Critical Operational Factors in Startup Processes, Exploring Rapid and Prolonged Operations”.  The award was presented at the 12th International Conference on Design and Concurrent Engineering (“iDECON2024”), held at UTeM from 2-3 September 2024.

This recognition highlights our commitment to innovation and the strength of the partnership between MPB and UTeM. Heartfelt congratulations to our exceptional researchers, Dr. Mohamad Lutfi Samsudin (MPB), Mogana Vadhna Suntrakumar (UTeM) and Associate Professor Dr. Sharifah Sakinah Syed Ahmad (UTeM), for their dedication and hard work in making this achievement possible.

Since February 2023, MPB has been actively collaborating with UTeM on innovative research in data analytics for CCPP. This partnership aims to leverage advanced data-driven techniques to enhance the efficiency, reliability and ability to anticipate issues in CCPP operations. By combining MPB's industry expertise with UTeM's academic research excellence, the collaboration looks at the prospect for harnessing CCPP data in an early step towards developing an intelligent system that could complement plant operators, assist fast and accurate decision making and optimise processes. All these could potentially lead to increased power production with reduced fuel consumption and minimised human error with enhanced productivity. It is hopeful that this joint effort will set new benchmarks for performance and sustainability in the energy industry in the future.

Malakoff’s collaborative effort and achievement in this research paper is testament to our dedication in finding the best innovative solutions to promote environmental stewardship, in line with the Government’s target to cut 45% of carbon intensity by 2030. It is also in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (“UN SDG”) No. 7 which ensures access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, and aligned with Malakoff’s overarching purpose of ‘Enhancing Life, Enriching Communities’.