Malaysia launches 1GW solar tender

    Malaysia’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources announced that the country’s fourth round of large-scale off grid solar panel kit system cost solar procurement plans began on Sunday.

    The ministry issued a document saying that the maximum size of eligible projects has been reduced from 100 MW to 50 MW, which has been reduced by half to enable more developers to participate. Each developer can only bid up to three.

    It is understood that half of the available capacity in this tender will be used for 10-30 MW projects, and the rest will be used for larger facilities. Successful applicants will connect their power plants to the grid before the end of 2023.

    The Malaysian government has held three rounds of procurement in accordance with the national tender plan.

    In the first round of investment in 2016, 200 MW of installed capacity was allocated throughout the peninsula, and 50 MW of installed capacity was allocated in Sabah in northern Borneo, with a total estimated capacity of 370 MW.

    The second LSS tender in the following year was close to its expected 520 MW target, with 360 MW of solar energy allocated to the peninsula and 100 MW allocated to Sabah and Labuan Islands. However, despite attracting bids for 1.6 GW of capacity, the price is still between 0.33-0.53 MYR/kWh, and this work has not yet been achieved.

    The last round of tenders attracted 112 bids with more than 6.73 GW of power generation capacity, and the minimum solar price was 0.17777 Myro ($0.041) per kWh. However, energy regulator Suruhanjaya Tenaga has nominated only 5 bidders with a total power generation capacity of 490 MW, suggesting that the project will again be in short supply.

    According to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency, Malaysia’s solar capacity will be 882 MW by the end of 2019.