Malaysia Launches Solar Energy Trading Pilot Project

• Malaysia has launched a pilot project for P2P energy trading to run for an eight-month period using solar energy
• It will allow solar prosumers to sell excess electricity generated through their rooftop solar systems to other electricity consumers
• Australia's Power Ledger has provided its technology for the pilot program which it says will make the grid relevant again through FTM business opportunities available to solar PV such as virtual net metering

The Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) in Malaysia has launched a peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading platform pilot project for solar rooftop electricity under the country's Renewable Energy Transition Roadmap (RETR) 2035.

According to SEDA, using P2P energy trading, prosumers or owners of rooftop solar PV systems can sell their excess electricity to other consumers through the grid and at a competitive rate with the retailer. Malaysia is trying to capitalize on its rooftop solar PV potential, which is more than 37.4 GW in Peninsular Malaysia alone. Out of this, 20.8 GW comes from the residential segment, 8.6 GW from industrial, 4.6 GW from commercial buildings, while 3.4 GW is from government buildings, schools, hospitals and the like.

"Malaysia has more than four million buildings with rooftop solar potential in Peninsular Malaysia. The trial with Power Ledger will give SEDA better insights into consumer preferences and price model testing," said SEDA CEO Ir. Dr Sanjayan Velautham.

The P2P system, it argues, empowers not only prosumers but also consumers by giving them a choice in terms of electricity if they wish to buy clean energy. In the broader sense, it also gives them an opportunity to play a bigger role in tackling climate change. Existing solar prosumers from the country's net energy metering (NEM) regime have volunteered to be a part of the pilot run.

Helping SEDA in the project is Australian blockchain company Power Ledger Ltd Pty that has provided the P2P platform after running it in Thailand, Japan, the US and Australia. Power Ledger says P2P energy trading will make the grid relevant once again through the front-of-the-meter (FTM) business opportunities available to solar PV such as virtual net metering.

The eight-month pilot will run in two phases—2 months in alpha phase which should commence by November 2019 and will test technical operability, and 6 months in beta phase when commercial transactions will be enabled among solar prosumers and electricity consumers, informed SEDA at the launch with Yeo Bee Yin in Kuala Lumpur, the country's Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC).

The pilot run will work closely with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), TNBX Sdn Bhd and the Malaysian PV Industry Association (MPIA).