Tenaga Nasional Berhad through its wholly-owned Special Purpose Vehicle company, TNB Bukit Selambau Solar Dua Sdn Bhd (TBSS2) has secured financing up to RM185 million for Large Scale Solar Mentari (LSS4) or its third Large Scale Solar (LSS) project in Bukit Selambau, Kuala Muda, Kedah.
The subsidiary has successfully completed the Financial Close on 30 September 2022 as scheduled. The solar project capacity is 50MWac (75MWdc). TBSS2 is expected to achieve its commercial operations in December 2023 which is currently being developed on an area of 175 acres, next to TNB’s second LSS in Bukit Selambau. CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad will be providing debt funding for the project for up to RM185 million.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Indera Ir. Baharin Din described the LSS project as a step forward towards achieving its sustainability pathway and ESG targets, as well as ensuring continued business growth for the national utility company.
In August 2021, TBSS2 signed a 21-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the development of the LSS facility. TNB Chief New Energy Officer, Zarihi Hashim, said, “With a proven track record in managing more than 600MW RE assets of both solar and wind in domestic and international markets, TNB has the capability of developing large-scale solar projects”
TNB’s first LSS in Sepang, Selangor with a capacity of 50MWac (78MWdc) has been operating since November 2018 while its second LSS in Bukit Selambau with 30MWac (45MWdc) in September 2020. These two projects were obtained through LSS1 and LSS2 bids respectively. The total carbon dioxide emission mitigated is up to approximately 85,016.56 tCO2e equivalents to the carbon sequestered by 2,125,414 trees per year, or by taking 18,318 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles off the road for 1 year.
