KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 13): Energy and technology solutions provider Uzma Bhd (KL: UZMA) is hoping to get the nod for its licence from the Energy Commission (EC) to commence operations of its 50 megawatt (MW) large-scale solar 4 (LSS4) project.

The group has already secured approval from the EC on its generation licence and is awaiting its issuance.

Chief aide to group chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Sayed Alfeizal Sayed Ahmad said the group has already secured approval from the EC on its generation licence and is currently awaiting its issuance.

"We just got the approval [from EC] today, the licence is expected to be issued soon — meaning we will then commence initial operation. The commercial operation date is expected within three weeks after that," Sayed Alfeizal told The Edge.

The LSS4 or LSS Mentari project was awarded in March 2021 to 30 winning bidders, comprising 10 projects of 50MW each and 20 projects between 10MW and 29.99MW.

The commercial operation date set by regulators for the LSS4 programme was Dec 31, 2023. However, more than two-thirds of the 823MW capacity awarded have missed the initial deadline, including Reneuco Bhd (KL:RENUECO), Advancecon Holdings Bhd (KL:ADVCON) and Gopeng Bhd.

Focus shift to TPA

Pending conclusion of its LSS4 chapter, Uzma had previously announced that the company is also bidding for the LSS5 programme, which closed its bidding for 2,000MW of solar project capacity on July 25.

However, the group is more excited with the upcoming Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) programme — a programme that allows a power plant to sell electricity directly to end-users at any agreeable price — to increase its exposure in the renewable energy (RE) market, according to Uzma group CEO Datuk Kamarul Redzuan Muhamed.

“Our participation [in LSS5] is not as aggressive as we were in LSS4, and so we wait for the results. I guess, we are more excited [for] TPA (third-party access framework) rather than LSS,” Kamarul told a press conference at the UzmaSAT-1 Tech Day 2024 on Tuesday.

CRESS allows any solar plant developer and long-term customer to negotiate offtake and pricing on a willing buyer-willing seller basis. These third parties are given third-party access to the national grid (owned and operated by TNB) for a fee.

This is different from the reverse-bidding mechanism used in LSS awards, which among others entails developers to bid for lower selling price (price to sell electricity to the grid) to secure a quota in the programme.

CRESS, spearheaded by the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (Petra) is expected to launch in September.

Shares of Uzma settled down two sen or 1.94% at RM1.01 on Tuesday, valuing the group at RM439.68 million.