KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 23): The Energy Commission (EC) was to inform winners of the fifth large scale solar bidding round (LSS5) beginning Monday, following nine months of deliberation since it was opened in April this year.

In a statement, the EC said the bids have already been reviewed for the projects totalling 2,000 megawatt (MW), which are slated for commercial operations in stages in 2026 and 2027.

However, unlike past practices, the commission did not reveal the list of winners in the statement, nor the range of the winning bids.

“The selection of the shortlisted bidders is based on competitive bid pricing, and adherence to the evaluation criteria in the 'request for proposal' document,” the EC said in the statement.

The 2,000MW LSS awards comprises four packages. Package one, taking up 250MW of the quota, is for projects of 1MW-10MW in size, while package two (250MW) is for projects of 10MW-30MW in size.

Package three (1,000MW) is for capacities between 30MW and 500MW, while package four (500MW) is for floating solar projects of 10MW-500MW in size.

Notably, packages one and two are open for companies with at least 51% Bumiputera equity, while packages three and four are open for companies with 51% Malaysian ownership.

It is unclear why the EC decided not to reveal the details of the winning LSS5 bids. Notably, the number of all bidders and the bidding prices were also not revealed, unlike for LSS1-LSS4 awards previously.

The commission had disclosed the names of the 32 winners for the 823.06MW LSS4 awards, five winners for the 490.88MW LSS3 awards, 41 winners for the 465.54 LSS2 awards, and 14 winners for the 354MW LSS1 awards.

None of the listed companies which expressed interest in the LSS5 bids have so far declared themselves as winners. The Edge is reaching out to spokespersons from the EC for comment.

Meanwhile, it is understood that the government is also exploring ways to fast-track the award of more solar farm projects either through new or existing bid rounds, according to sources and market observers.

This comes amid an influx of investments into the country, partly into data centre projects, which require low-carbon or clean energy to fetch a higher tiering standard, that would in turn fetch a premium in the market.

According to reports, the influx of data centres in the country is expected to lift energy demand by up to 10GW, which is 50% of the current peak electricity demand of just above 20GW seen this year.

Solar farms are again gaining traction amid declining battery storage prices, as solar panels touched another new low of US$0.08/watt, compared with previous lows of US$0.12/watt during the pandemic.

Under the LSS reverse bidding process, interested companies offer a certain price to sell solar-generated electricity to the grid on a per kilowatt-hour (kWh) basis. The lower the price, the more competitive it is, as it means lower electricity costs for consumers — although it is just one part of the equation in deciding winning bids, aside from factors such as project delivery.

Recall that in LSS4, winning bids ranged between 17.68 sen to 24.81 sen per kWh, with the lowest bids then at 13.99 sen/kWh during periods.

However, price fluctuations at the time derailed certain projects and resulted in the government providing project deadline extensions, as well as lengthening the tenure of the power purchase agreement to 25 years, from 21.

In the current backdrop of fresh record low panel prices amid global production capacity oversupply and demand slowdown in markets like US and China, it is understood that the lowest bids in LSS5 could be between 13 sen/kWh and 16 sen/kWh.

With the track record of project delivery by solar farm players, and the experience gained in dealing with panel prices fluctuations, the government is in a good position to roll-out more solar projects at the best possible prices, taking advantage of dirt cheap solar panels to meet the sharp rise in demand in the coming years.