A consortium, comprising Cypark Renewable Energy Sdn. Bhd (CRE) and Revenue Vantage Sdn. Bhd. and CRE, has been given the green light to install a 30 MW solar PV project in Empangan Terip, Negeri Sembilan.

“The Project is not expected to have any material impact on the earnings and net assets of the CRB Group for the financial year ending 31 October 2018. However the Project is expected to contribute positively to the future earnings of the CRB Group,” wrote CRB in a statement filed to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, December 4.

CRB posted a profit of MYR 51.7 million (US$12 million) in 2016, the majority of which was said to come from its renewable-energy and environmental engineering businesses.

No further project details were available and CRE did not immediately respond to requests for information.

In related news, Malaysian utility, Tenaga Nasional Berhad yesterday announced it has also been granted development rights to build a 30 MW solar plant in Kedah state.

The second auction for competitive Large Scale Solar (LSS) in Malaysia attracted 1.6 GW of proposals. Bids ranged from 0.33 to 0.53 ringgit ($0.08-0.12)/kWh, with participants competing for 460 MW of capacity.

Attractive market

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Malaysia is expected to install 197 MW of solar this year, up 318% on 2016, which saw just 47 MW added.

Figures from Malaysia’s energy commission show that projects that have been awarded a feed-in tariff (FIT) and which have achieved their FIT commencement date total just 13.04 MW in 2017; another 39.31 MW are said to be under construction. Overall, the country has an installed capacity of 352.10 MW.

Complementing its FIT, Malaysia aims to intall 500 MW of solar by 2020 under its Net Energy Metering program, introduced in 2016.

Despite its comparatively small size, U.K.-based BMI Research says Malaysia is among the “most attractive” renewables markets in Southeast Asia, due to its economic and political stability, and strong regulatory support for renewables, all of which are attracting investment.

“While the scale of Malaysia’s renewables sector remains limited compared to regional counterparts … the continuation of auctions in the country and the successful commissioning of the projects contracted presents a sizeable upside risk to our forecasts,” it said in May.