108 MW: Malaysia’s Net Metered PV Capacity Till Nov 2019

• SEDA has released data for net metered rooftop solar PV capacity of the country till November 2019 to have reached 108 MW
• This comprises 94.14 MW added within the first 11 months of 2019 alone
• Industrial segment takes the lion's share with 75.01 MW while agricultural segment lags behind with 0.13 MW
• SEDA says this success is due to NEM 2.0 that allows for excess solar power generated to be exported back to the grid on one-on-one offset basis

Till the end of November 2019, net metered solar PV capacity approved in Malaysia had reached 108 MW as per data released by the country's Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA). It shows this capacity development since 2016 with the maximum reported for the first 11 months of 2019 when 94.14 MW was approved. This is 7.8 times more than the previous three years put together that added up to 13.86 MW.

Of the 108 MW, most rooftop solar capacity has been installed in the industrial segment with 75.01 MW, followed by the commercial segment with 25.18 MW, residential with 7.67 MW and the agricultural segment with 0.13 MW.

SEDA attributes the success of the its net energy metering (NEM) program to its 'newly improved' NEM 2.0 program under which excess solar PV power generated is allowed to be exported back to the grid on one-on-one offset basis. "This has managed to reduce the period for Return of Investment (ROI) to a mere three years especially for commercial and industrial installations which also benefited from the various tax incentive given by the government," stated SEDA.

It sees huge potential for rooftop solar in the country with 37,429 MW capacity for at least 4.12 million buildings in Peninsular Malaysia alone.

Back in 2017 when the NEM program was launched, the country targeted to achieve a cumulative 500 MW capacity to be installed by the year 2020 in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, but looking at the 108 MW number till November 2019, the actual target achievement looks uncertain as of now (see Net Metering In Malaysia). 

In October 2019, SEDA launched a pilot peer-to-peer energy trading platform using Australia's Power Ledger's technology to allow sale and purchase of rooftop solar PV generation (see Malaysia Launches Solar Energy Trading Pilot Program).

Malaysia aims to report 20% renewable energy in its total energy mix by 2025, which doesn't include large hydro power plants (of more than 100 MW capacity) as per the strategic trajectory underlined in the the country's Renewable Energy Transition Roadmap (RETR) 2035. This roadmap will be launched officially in April 2020 at the 5^th International Sustainable Energy Summit (ISES) 2020.