This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 8, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: The ministry of energy, green technology and water (KeTTHA) will be awarding up to 250mw of utility-scale solar capacity by June this year, said Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili.

“Over 300 companies have put in [their proposals], so it would take some time for us to sieve through them. We hope the award can be made by June,” he told pressmen at the sidelines of the AsiaWater 2016 forum yesterday, adding that the commercial operation date for the plants would be 2017.

KeTTHA in January announced it would be be calling for a request for proposal to develop up to 250mw big-scale solar plants this year.

At the time, KeTTHA’s secretary-general Datuk Loo Took Gee said the scaling up was done as the volume of the renewable energy generated from the feed-in-tariff scheme was only one-third of the targeted volume under the ministry’s policy.

At the forum yesterday, Ongkili was also asked for an update on Project 4A, a 1,000mw to 1,400mw power plant development.

“The project is moving on, the EC (Energy Commission) is finalising the terms with the award winner,” he said.

SIPP Energy Sdn Bhd, a vehicle controlled by the Johor Sultan, was awarded the job in 2014, but has not been able to kick-start the project so far.