Additional rooftop solar quota for M'sian businesses, households

• The latest 50MW quota for households is in addition to the 50MW quota opened up in September. For businesses, the latest addition brings the total quota to 1,400MW under the NEM 3.0.

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): The government has increased the rooftop solar capacity by another 300MW for the commercial and industrial segment, and by 50MW for households.

These additional quotas under the Net Energy Metering 3.0 (NEM 3.0) were added this month, according to guidelines published by the Energy Commission. (pictured)

The latest 50MW quota for households is in addition to the 50MW quota opened up in September. These came after the previous 350MW quota was fully snapped up. In total, the household quota has reached 450MW.

For businesses, the latest addition brings the total quota to 1,400MW under the NEM 3.0. As of now, 314.15MW remains available for application, following several quota increases.

Meanwhile, a separate segment for government buildings has a 37MW balance quota out of the 100MW made available.

Rooftop solar has been gaining traction, amid higher electricity tariffs since 2023, due to higher fuel costs and adjustment of the electricity subsidy scheme to be more targeted towards lower income households that supposedly use less electricity.

Further enticing households was the introduction of a rebate of up to RM4,000 for household rooftop solar installations. This offer is open for application until Dec 31, and applications that are approved must be operational by March 31, 2025.

The NEM entails a one-to-one offset of electricity consumed at home, which means every kilowatt-hour generated will pay for every kilowatt-hour used by the premises.

The programme allows excess electricity generated in the month to be rolled over to offset future consumption of up to one year before the credit expires, and this mechanism lasts 10 years from its initial operation date.

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