IPOH: The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (KeTSA) via the Energy Commission (EC) will open a competitive bidding process for Large Scale Solar (LSS) programme by Malaysia Electricity Industry to Attract Renewable Energy Investment (LSS@MenTARI) starting on May 31.
Its Minister Datuk Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said under LSS@MenTARI, some 1,000 megawatts (MW) of solar quota will be offered through the bidding process, and is open to fully-owned local companies or with at least 75 percent local shareholding for companies listed on Bursa Malaysia.
He said the quota offered this time is the biggest under the LSS programme – during LSS-1 some 370MW solar were offered, LSS-2 (520MW), and for LSS-3 (500MW). These moves are aimed at reviving as well as stimulating the economy that is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It also aims to accelerate the development of the nation’s electricity supply industry especially for renewable energy,” he told a press conference on LSS@MenTARI at the EC Perak regional office here, today.
Shamsul Anuar said the Ministry had set the maximum bidding capacity from each developer at 50MW compared with 100MW previously to give more opportunities for industry players to participate in the bidding process.
“Each developer can make a maximum of only three bids. The period to submit the documents is three months compared with six months to ensure the project implementation can start before the end of 2020,” he said, adding further information would be issued by the EC soon.
He said the Ministry expects the LSS@MenTARI programme to attract investments totalling RM4 billion and generate 12,000 job opportunities as 1MW of solar can create 12 jobs.
According to Shamsul Anuar, the power plants under the LSS@MenTARI programme are expected to start operating latest by Dec 31, 2023, as the development of each plant would take up to 18 months.
Source: theedgemarkets
