KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional Bhd's (TNB) second large scale solar (LSS) project, located in Bukit Selambau, Kedah has started its operation beginning September 8, 2020.
TNB in a statement said the 30 megawatt (MW) plant has started its early operations 114 days ahead of schedule from the initial target on December 31, 2020.
The plant is equipped with 134,880 solar photovoltaic panels with 14 inverters.
TNB president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said the commissioning of the plant, despite the challenges brought by the onslaught of the Covid- 19 pandemic, demonstrates TNB's experience and expertise in renewable energy (RE) development, specifically solar power plant projects.
"The early commissioning of LSS Bukit Selambau is a testament to TNB's commitment towards delivering sustainable energy for the nation, as well as its capabilities to execute such large scale RE projects.
"Together with the recently announced acquisition of majority control of Vortex Solar in the UK, will positions TNB as the leading domestic and among the top RE players in the region and globally," said Amir.
He also said the second LSS project has increased and strengthened TNB's domestic large scale solar generation capacity which contributed 80MWac (123MWp) to the national grid.
TNB's first LSS in Sepang, Selangor (LSS Sepang Solar) with a generation capacity of 50 MW has successfully achieved commercial operation date in November 2018.
LSS Sepang Solar and LSS Bukit Selambau were both awarded by Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA) (now Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources - KETSA) through The Energy Commission via the LSS competitive bidding exercise program 1 and program 2 respectively.
Both plants were developed by TNB's wholly-owned subsidiary, TNB Renewables Sdn Bhd (TRe).
TRe is the asset management, operations and investment company arm of TNB that spearheads renewable energy projects and assets in Malaysia and in Southeast Asia.
The company is aggressively seeking potential collaboration opportunities in the renewable energy segment in Malaysia and the region.
Construction of LSS Bukit Selambau took 21 months including almost two months suspension due to the MCO.
It was undertaken within budget by the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contractor, TNB Engineering Corporation Sdn. Bhd., another wholly-owned subsidiary of TNB.