Sustainable Project Management: Lessons from a Malaysian Solar Farm
This case study of a 150 MW solar farm in Malaysia reveals how failing to apply sustainable project management principles from the start—like stakeholder engagement, ESG alignment, and local economic inclusion—led to public backlash, environmental violations, and post-launch maintenance issues. Although the project achieved its energy output target, it fell short on social, environmental, and long-term operational goals, offering valuable lessons for future green infrastructure initiatives.
Challenges Faced
The project intended to create jobs and avoid negative social impacts on local communities. However, the lack of early stakeholder engagement, particularly with the Orang Asli communities residing near the project site, led to protests and public backlash. Community members expressed concerns about loss of ancestral land and inadequate compensation. These issues delayed construction and eroded trust.
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) flagged the presence of endangered plant species in the project area. Due to limited ecological expertise and compressed timelines, the mitigation plans were vague and poorly implemented. This prompted a local NGO to file a complaint with the Department of Environment, resulting in a compliance audit and temporary suspension of site clearing.
While the project aimed to boost local economic activity, a large percentage of procurement contracts were awarded to external vendors. This was because local SMEs lacked capacity to meet technical requirements, and no structured vendor development program was in place. This contradicted the project's inclusive growth goals and attracted criticism from regional stakeholders.
The decision to sustainable project management practices mid-way through the project created process misalignment. Existing project management practices did not account for sustainability metrics such as lifecycle carbon emissions. Additionally, inconsistent data collection hampered reporting and transparency, reducing the credibility of ESG disclosures to investors and regulators.
The solar farm successfully achieved its generation target of 150 MW of power. However, lack of planning for local operations and maintenance led to frequent system faults within six months of commissioning. Dependence on foreign technicians increased operational costs and undermined community capacity-building objectives.
Lessons Learned
Lessons learned from this project could be categorised in four categories relating to people, procurement as well as project governance.
From the people perspective, it is crucial that early and inclusive stakeholder engagement is undertaken in such projects, especially with indigenous communities. In addition, considerations for stakeholder engagement must be embedded from the planning phase of the project, not introduced reactively when issues arise due to concerns raised by the affected communities.
Unlike conventional projects that emphasize the need for timely and cost effective procurement, projects of this nature should incorporate sustainability and local development criteria as part of the procurement requirements. This would have addressed the misgivings associated with project not contributing to local economic development as a consequence of the project.
Project governance refers to processes, roles, and responsibilities that guide project decision-making and ensure alignment with organizational goals. For this governance frameworks have to be developed in accordance with the type of project undertaken. For the project in question, the governance framework was not be aligned with Environmental, Social and Governance, ESG requirements. As such the governance framework used failed to assess and manage the projects impact it has on society and the environment.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the solar farm project highlights the complexities of implementing sustainable project management practices in Malaysia. While the intent was aligned with national and global sustainability goals, the lack of integrated planning and stakeholder alignment led to avoidable setbacks. Failure to incorporate sustainability issues within the governance framework and engage in procurement practices that do not incorporate sustainability considerations can lead to misalignment with ESG requirements.
This case underscores the importance of adopting a sustainable project management approach throughout the project lifecycle to truly achieve sustainable development outcomes.
Dr Rumesh Kumar, PMP, CGPM
Sharma Management International
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