The government of Malaysia has unveiled the next round of its Large-scale solar (LSS) program tender seeking 2.5GW of solar PV co-located with 1.25GW of battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity.
Held by the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, the sixth round of LSS will be implemented through three packages, two of which involve co-locating solar PV with BESS.
The first package will seek 2.2GW of solar PV with 1.1GW of BESS and is open to all developers, while the second and third packages are open to Bumiputera developers in Peninsular Malaysia – companies owned by ethnic Malays or other indigenous peoples from Malaysia. The second package aims to award 300MW solar PV with 150MW, while the third package will be for 150MW of standalone solar PV.
Biddings for the two co-located packages are set between 60MW and 500MW, while the third package is set between 10MW to 30MW. The third package was created to encourage the participation of small Bumiputera companies that are interested in venturing in the energy industry, said the Energy Ministry.
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The window for projects to bid in the two solar-plus-storage packages will be open between 27 July until 7 August 2026, while the standalone solar one will be open between 17-28 August 2026.
Moreover, project development focus will be given to strategic areas with high electricity demand growth, in particular in the south of the Peninsula. This is in order to optimise the planning of the country’s electricity generation and transmission system.
According to the Ministry, the construction of large-scale solar-plus-storage projects is aimed at increasing the country’s electricity grid stability, flexibility and reliability.
Projects using domestically produced solar PV modules will be given priority, while awarded projects under LSS6 are expected to begin commercial operations no later than the end of 2029. With 2.5GW of solar PV sought in the LSS6, the tender will further accelerate the growth of solar PV, and BESS, in the Southeast Asian country, which has a little bit over 3GW of installed solar at the end of 205, according to data from think tank Ember.
The solar-plus-storage solicitation follows Malaysia’s first national tender for standalone BESS capacity. The national Energy Commission selected four projects of 100MW/400MWh each (400MW/1,600MWh total) to be deployed at strategic locations in Peninsular Malaysia, through the inaugural Malaysia Battery Energy Storage System (MyBeST) programme competitive solicitation. Shortlisted bidders were announced at the beginning of this year.
Utility company Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) made headlines a few weeks ago with the inauguration of a 100MW/400MWh grid-forming (GFM) BESS in Dungun district, Terengganu state.
In terms of co-location with renewables in Malaysia, last year the World Bank said it would invest in a 4GW solar, 5.12GWh BESS project, Southern Johor Renewable Energy Corridor (SJREC), which would form part of a pan-Southeast Asian power grid initiative.
Malaysia’s latest move comes after the Philippines launched its first Green Energy Auction (GEA) in which Integrated Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Systems (IRESS) were eligible to participate. GEA-4 awarded contracts to 1.19GW of IRESS project bids in November 2025.
Additional reporting for Energy-Storage.news by Andy Colthorpe.
This story first appeared on PV Tech.
