GoodWe said this week that it has completed the construction of a 10.95 MW utility-scale solar PV project in Perak, northwestern Malaysia. Solarvest Holdings Berhad is a key partner of the Solar Citra Project, with M K Land Holdings Berhad owning and developing the plant.

Moritz Sticher, a senior adviser for Berlin-based consulting firm Apricum, said that the project – commissioned under Malaysia’s Large-Scale Solar (LSS) Procurement Scheme – is significant, even though it is “rather small.”

“In terms of impact towards Malaysia’s new [renewables] target of 70% by the end of 2050, it is rather small, but every project is important,” Sticher said in an email. “It is good to see another solar project commissioned, [but it is] not huge though compared to a currently installed solar capacity of around 1.94 GW in Malaysia.”

Stitcher said he expects more financially challenged projects in the fourth round of the LSS4 scheme to become feasible as module prices decline.

“More commissioning of other pending projects [is] expected,” he said.

The LSS, introduced in 2016, is a competitive bidding program that is designed to decrease the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for the development of large-scale solar PV plants in Malaysia.

GoodWe says the array is the first large-scale project to feature its “one-stop PV solution.” It includes 52 units of 250 kW Ht string inverters, two 6,750 kVA medium-voltage stations, an SCB3000 communication device and the SolarOS monitoring platform. The project is expected to generate 24.095 GWh of electricity per annum.

In August 2022, the Malaysian Energy Commission said it would extend power purchase agreements (PPAs) from the fourth LSS4 tenders from 21 to 25 years, which is expected to ensure the deliverability of projects.

The LSS4 program allocated 823.06 MW of capacity among 30 projects. Out of a total allocation of 2,457 MW, only 1,160 MW had become operational by the second quarter of 2022. The forthcoming round, LSS5, is anticipated to commence by the end of this year, with the government currently assessing the potential inclusion of virtual PPAs.