Sabah Development Energy and Symbior Solar awarded largest solar PV project in Labuan, Malaysia
Malaysia company Sabah Development Energy Sdn. Bhd. (SDE), a subsidiary of Sabah Petroleum International Sdn. Bhd. owned by Sabah’s Ministry of Finance and Bangkok based Symbior Solar, a leading solar PV developer with a focus on developing solar PV projects across Asia, announced on March 31 the award of the largest solar PV project in Labuan and their joint venture to develop 50MW of high-efficiency solar PV projects in Malaysia.
SDE’s and Symbior’s joint submission to the Energy Commission in Malaysia under the second round of the Large Scale Solar program last July was awarded the largest project in Labuan on November 28th, 2017. The Labuan project is one of only three large scale projects above 10MW in Sabah, Malaysia awarded to date.
This first project for the SDE-Symbior consortium is planned to begin construction in late 2018 following the required steps for finalizing the power purchase agreement with the Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB), the local utility, and other required permitting steps. Over the coming years, further projects in Sabah are under development for a project pipeline of 50MW.
Florian Bennhold, CEO of Symbior Solar said:
“Sabah has the highest solar PV yield in Malaysia and has been the primary target for Symbior’s project development in in the country. SDE’s experienced team and focus on high-performance infrastructure as well as its local presence in Sabah align with our team’s solar PV experience making our joint venture an important contributor to the development of the solar PV industry in Sabah, Malaysia.”
Sabah’s average solar yield—substantially higher than most areas in Peninsula Malaysia—make it a most suitable location for solar PV projects. With a strong growth in demand for electricity and a significant portion of the electricity supply being based on diesel generation, solar PV power projects provide lower cost of generation for Sabahans at today’s prices.
Symbior and SDE are focused on delivering high-performance solar PV plants for Labuan and Sabah building on the regional experience with Symbior’s .
Source: Press Release by Symbior Solar. Photo Credit: © Symbior Solar.
