Malaysia Launches 5th Bidding Round For Large Scale Solar

• Malaysia has launched its LSS5 tender round for 2 GW AC solar PV capacity 
• Apart from rooftop and ground mounted solar projects of varying capacities, 500 MW is reserved for floating solar 
• Projects need to be located in Peninsular Malaysia and expected to come online by 2026 

After a gap of 2 years, the Malaysian Energy Commission or Suruhanjaya Tenaga has launched the 5th round of the country's flagship Large Scale Solar (LSS) Photovoltaic program for a combined 2 GW AC capacity. 

All the projects need to be located in Peninsular Malaysia. Under the 5th LSS round or LSS-Peralihan Tenaga SuRiA (LSS PETRA), the commission will accept bids in response to its request for proposal (RFP) round, in 4 packages. 

According to local media reports, the 4 packages within which this 2 GW AC capacity needs to be developed are: 

• Package 1: Rooftop or ground-mounted solar plants with a combined 250 MW AC capacity installed with system sizes of 1 MW AC to 10 MW AC 
• Package 2: 250 MW rooftop or ground-mounted solar PV capacity within the range of 10 MW AC and 30 MW AC capacity 
• Package 3: 1 GW AC capacity of rooftop or ground-mounted projects with an individual installed capacity of 30 MW AC to 500 MW AC, and 
• Package 4: 500 MW floating solar power plant capacity with individual project installed capacity of 10 MW AC to 500 MW AC. 

At least 51% shareholding of the winning companies or consortiums must be domestically owned. All projects awarded under this round need to come online by 2026.  

Launched on April 1, 2024, the tender will remain open to bids till July 25, 2024. The details are available on the commission's website.  

Earlier this year in February 2024, state utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) announced plans to expedite its 2.5 GW hybrid hydro floating solar projects in the country (see Malaysia Kickstarts 2.5 GW Hydro-Floating Solar Project). 

Malaysia has launched the LSS5 tender round after 2 years. The LSS4 was concluded in March 2021 wherein it offered 1 GW AC capacity. The last round was undersubscribed with bids coming in for 823 MW (see RM 0.1768/kWh Lowest Bid For Malaysia's LSS4 Round).  

The Southeast Asian nation targets to achieve 70% renewable energy share in its power mix by 2050, under its energy roadmap, with solar shouldering a lot of responsibility (see Malaysia's National Energy Transformation Roadmap Part 1).