KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 11): Malaysia’s second auction exercise for its renewable energy (RE) exports has garnered "significant" interest from multiple parties, following the launch of the expression of interest (EOI) on Sept 8, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

The EOI for exports to Singapore, through the Energy Exchange Malaysia (Enegem), will be followed by the registration for the auction itself, open to eligible participants from Sept 26 to Oct 3, according to the Single Buyer website.

Enegem is managed by Single Buyer, an entity ring-fenced within Tenaga Nasional Bhd (KL:TENAGA) that is the sole electricity procurement entity for Peninsular Malaysia.

“The launch of the EOI on Monday is gaining traction and momentum from a significant number of interested renewable energy players,” said Fadillah, who is also Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, in response to questions from The Edge.

“I look forward to the forthcoming bidding, which I envision will drive cross-border green electricity trade between Malaysia and Singapore,” he said.

Enegem strengthens Malaysia’s framework for regional electricity integration, and “also opens up wider opportunities” for sustainable investments and bilateral cooperation, he added.

Enegem’s first-ever RE auction to Singapore in June 2024 resulted in exports of 50-megawatt (MW) capacity to the city-state for one year beginning December that same year, by Tenaga to Singapore's Sembcorp Power.

The Enegem programme is meant to eventually export up to 300MW in RE, according to earlier statements by the minister.

It is understood that close to a dozen Singapore-based firms have engaged in discussions with the energy ministry on the latest RE auction round.

Parties that are eligible for the exercise are either licensed electricity producers, manufacturers, or importers in Singapore.

Singapore has a target of importing six gigawatts (GW) of RE by 2035, which its power regulator Energy Market Authority said would amount to one-third of the country’s energy demand by then.

Aside from RE, Tenaga also has an agreement, signed in 2023, with Singapore-based YTL Power Seraya Pte Ltd to supply 100MW of electricity to the city-state. In September last year, Tenaga signed another agreement with Keppel Electric Pte Ltd, an electricity retailer and power generator in Singapore, for the power supply of up to 100MW.

In the region, talks have accelerated on the need for a more integrated electricity industry through the Asean Power Grid structure.

The only other RE export programme in the region is the Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP), which supplied 100MW of energy from Laos’ hydro assets to Singapore through the other two countries. There has not been much update following the lapse of an initial agreement in 2024.