Tapping the Potential of Large Scale Solar PV System in Sabah: The Feasibility Analysis

Abstract

As a developing country with the rapid growth of economic and population like Malaysia, energy and electricity play a critical role towards sustaining and supporting the development of the nation. However, like many countries across the world, Malaysia is facing challenges in reducing the carbon footprint while attending the expanding growth. In the Eleventh Malaysia Plan, Malaysia has pledged to renew and increase its commitment to the environment and long-term sustainability by adopting green growth initiatives. According to the plan, one of the approaches towards pursuing green growth is by undertaking the sustainable consumption and production concept that promotes economic growth without compromising the environment. One of the strategies is to focus on promoting renewable energy sources as well as boosting up the development of the systems. The last decade has seen a growing trend towards renewable energy in Malaysia, particular in solar photovoltaic applications in recent years. This paper will investigate the potentials of installing 5 MW solar PV plants in the state of Sabah according to feed in tariff incentives and its financial and environmental assessment in order to promote large scale solar PV in Malaysia. This paper calculates the economic viability through IRR and simple payback indicators and the environmental impact through CO2 emission reduction indicator for the proposed 5 MW plant.