Malaysia’s solar capacity surpasses 5.7 GW

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Reports from the International Energy Agency's Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS) indicate Malaysia added over 1.4 GW of solar in 2025, with more than 5.7 GW now deployed across multiple government schemes.</span></p><section class="text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none [--shadow-height:45px] has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none has-data-writing-block:-mt-(--shadow-height) has-data-writing-block:pt-(--shadow-height) [&amp;:has([data-writing-block])&gt;*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-(--header-height)" dir="auto"></section>
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<p><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/region/malaysia/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Malaysia</a>’s solar capacity reached 5,777 MW by the end of 2025, according to figures from the International Energy Agency's <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/tag/iea-pvps/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">IEA-PVPS</a>.</p>
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<p>The figure includes solar deployed across Malaysia’s large-scale solar (LSS), feed-in tariff (FiT), and net energy metering (NEM) schemes. An IEA-PVPS <a href="https://iea-pvps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/PVPS_Annual_Report_2024_Country_Updates.pdf" rel="noopener" target="_blank">report from 2024</a> put the country’s cumulative solar capacity at 4,329 MW at the end of that year, implying additions of around 1,448 MW in 2025.</p>
<p>The country's total solar capacity may stand even higher, as the figure does not account for any solar installed outside the government schemes, such as off-grid installations.</p>
<p>Malaysia's LSS program is a competitive auction scheme targeting utility projects that had deployed 2,648 MW of solar by the end of 2025. The most recent auction round kicked off in <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/01/21/malaysia-opens-bidding-for-2-gw-of-large-scale-solar/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">January 2025</a>, tendering 2 GW of large-scale solar projects with capacities ranging from 10 MW to 500 MW.</p>
<p>It <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/09/03/malaysia-approves-2-gw-of-large-scale-solar/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">approved 13 projects</a> in September 2025 with a combined capacity of 1,975 MW. Figures from Malaysia's Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation published in October said the LSS has now approved <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/10/09/over-6-gw-of-solar-approved-under-malaysias-large-scale-solar-program/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">6,028 MW of solar capacity</a> to 117 companies since its inception.</p>
<p>IEA-PVPS adds that a total 345 MW of solar was deployed under Malaysia's feed-in tariff scheme, an earlier <span style="font-weight: 400;">policy offering a fixed tariff for small-scale rooftop solar, before it was <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/07/02/malaysia-upgrades-net-metering-scheme-for-rooftop-pv/#:~:text=Net%20metering%20replaced%20the%20country%E2%80%99s%20feed%2Din%20tariff%20incentive%20in%20January%202016." rel="noopener" target="_blank">replaced by a net-metering scheme</a> at the start of 2016. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The three rounds of Malaysia's <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/07/02/malaysia-upgrades-net-metering-scheme-for-rooftop-pv/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">net-metering schemes</a>, which have expanded over time to include residential, commercial and industrial (C&amp;I), and government-owned buildings, had deployed 2,747 MW of solar, IEA-PVPS' figures add, by the time of its conclusion in June 2025.</span></p>
<p>At the start of 2026, Malaysia replaced its net-metering program with the <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/01/09/malaysia-introduces-rooftop-solar-scheme-to-replace-net-metering-program-solar-atap/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Solar Accelerated Transition Action Program</a> (ATAP), aimed at both residential and commercial customers.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lam Pham and Alnie Demoral, energy analysts at Ember specializing in Asian markets, told <strong>pv magazine</strong> that the LSS program and third net metering scheme were key drivers of Malaysia's solar market last year, as well as high commercial tariffs helping to make solar competitive for the C&amp;I market.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Looking ahead, Pham and Demoral forecast that more solar will be deployed in Malaysia in 2026 than in 2025, driven by the launch of the ATAP and completion of utility-scale solar projects awarded in the most recent LSS rounds.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The ATAP in 2026 removes quota constraints and expands rooftop adoption which previously constrained distributed solar,” the pair told </span><b>pv magazine</b>. They also explained<span style="font-weight: 400;"> the program will bring easier approval compared to the NEM but focuses on self-consumption by offering no export benefits.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pham and Demoral said allowing the monetization of excess generation under ATAP would help support Malaysia’s solar market further. </span>They also suggested standardizing and speeding up grid connection approvals and publishing hosting capacity maps for improved transparency, as well electricity pricing and subsidies reform, explaining that natural gas and coal remain indirectly subsidized, in turn distorting solar competitiveness.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Data centre developments also appear poised to play a growing role in the development of Malaysia's solar sector. Among the largest solar project under development in the country is a <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/08/25/malaysian-partners-to-develop-1-5-gw-of-solar/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">1.5 GW project</a> to be tied with battery storage to supply hyperscale data centres under the country's <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/03/09/the-limits-to-growth-the-malaysian-way-of-navigating-the-data-centre-boom/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme scheme</a>, which allows businesses to purchase green electricity directly from renewable energy developers via the grid. </span></p>
<div>In February, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that, due to their role in increasing energy and water usage, the government will <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/02/25/malaysia-restricts-non-ai-data-centers-citing-energy-concerns/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">restrict the entry of new data centers</a> unrelated to AI.</div>