Malaysian Power Firm TNB Enters UK Solar Power Projects

Malaysian multinational electricity conglomerate Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) has announced that it has signed an Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) contract with BELECTRIC GmbH (BELECTRIC) for the construction and commissioning of 102 MW solar farms in the United Kingdom (UK).

The official statement of TNB held that the deal was signed on December 14, 2022, through the wholly owned subsidiary TNB, Vantage RE Ltd. As per reports, this is the first greenfield solar venture of TNB in the Unit Kingdom.

The solar farms project also includes an option to develop 65 MW co-located Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), which upon development may enhance TNB’s revenue streams through participation in ancillary services and the capacity market. TNB said that this investment represents a significant milestone for TNB as it broadens into renewable energy (RE) greenfield development in the UK.

As per TNB, the solar farms are expected to achieve Commercial Operation Date (COD) by the first quarter of 2024. The solar facilities will come up on two different sites. They are will provide stable long-term revenues under a 15-year Contract-for-Difference (CfD) subsidy scheme that was awarded in July 2022.

TNB also informed that the project delivery will be overseen by the Vantage RE team and once operational, it will generate enough clean energy to meet the equivalent annual needs of over 37,000 homes and save over 46,750 tonnes of CO2 compared to fossil fuel generation. Both sites also offer opportunities for environmental initiatives to promote biodiversity net gains, supporting TNB’s wider biodiversity agenda.

UK’s Energy Minister had held recently that the country wants to increase its renewable energy share in the power mix to a significant level by the end of this decade. In this line, the Kingdom wants to increase its solar target from to 50 GW by 2030 from the current capacity of about 14 GW.