Malaysia’s largest solar engineering firm Solarvest Holdings Bhd is seeing a surge in demand for renewable energy solutions as the ongoing Iran conflict drives up fossil fuel costs and accelerates the shift towards alternative energy.
Bloomberg reported that Chief Executive Officer Davis Chong said, the company is looking to expedite project delivery timelines, potentially shortening execution periods from the typical 18–24 months to as fast as 12–16 months, as businesses seek quicker access to renewable energy.
Solarvest, which develops both large-scale solar capacity for the national grid and corporate renewable projects, is targeting the addition of about 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in 2026 and at least 5GW more by 2028. The group is also preparing to roll out large-scale solar projects for Tenaga Nasional Bhd. starting next year.
The company recently announced two new solar projects under a corporate partnership programme, supplying energy to facilities operated by Micron Technology Inc. in Penang and Muar, as well as data centre operations linked to NTT Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. in Malaysia.
Industry players expect fossil fuel-based energy costs to continue rising into the second half of the year, further strengthening the case for solar adoption. At the same time, solar panel and battery prices are expected to remain stable or trend lower, supported by largely unaffected supply chains from China.
Another solar developer reported a sharp rise in enquiries, driven largely by data centre operators and semiconductor supply chain companies seeking to secure long-term energy cost stability through renewables.
Malaysia has made steady progress in expanding its renewable energy capacity, reaching 12GW in 2025, according to Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof.
