Latest Malaysian tender attracts bids for 6.7 GW of capacity

A 500 MW solar tender in Malaysia has attracted 112 bids for a total of more than 6.73 GW of generation capacity.

The cheapest price offered in the tender was MYR0.17777/kWh ($0.042) for the power generated by a proposed 100 MW solar project, the maximum size developers could bid for under terms which offered each company the chance to bid for three assets. The most expensive suggested solar electricity price was MYR0.5800/kWh for a 9.9 MW facility. That costly offer was significantly higher than the next most expensive bid of MYR0.3240.

With the previous round of the Large Scale Solar (LSS) procurement program having attracted bids for 1.6 GW of capacity offering power at MYR0.33-0.53/kWh, the latest, LSS 3 exercise seems likely to undershoot that price. With the bids now subject to evaluation, the cheapest seven accounted for 547 MW of capacity at prices ranging up to MYR0.2368.

The latest public auction, announced in February, attracted 40 bids from developers seeking 100 MW of capacity, according to a document published by energy commission the Suruhanjaya Tenaga. The smallest project bid submitted was for a 5 MW facility offering power for MYR0.3150/kWh.

The tender rules stipulated developers must use engineering, procurement and construction services providers which employ only Malaysian workers.

The first round of the program, in 2016, allocated 200 MW of capacity plus 50 MW on Sabah with a 50 MW size limit on projects tendered. The second exercise, held in 2017, secured 360 MW more solar plus 100 MW in Sabah and Labuan, with a 30 MW size limit.