Batu Kawan
Industrial Park

Batu Kawan Industrial Park: A Semiconductor Solar Opportunity

Batu Kawan Industrial Park (BKIP) occupies approximately 2,300 acres on the mainland side of the Second Penang Bridge. Developed by the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and now under the purview of INVEST-Penang, BKIP hosts a dense cluster of semiconductor, medical device, and electronic component manufacturers. The park's proximity to the Second Bridge provides fast logistics connectivity to Butterworth Port and Penang International Airport, critical for just-in-time semiconductor supply chains.

From a solar perspective, BKIP is a strong industrial opportunity in Peninsular Malaysia. The park's single-storey factory typology — engineered for cleanroom and large-footprint manufacturing — provides expansive, unobstructed roof areas ideal for ballasted or penetration-free solar mounting systems.

Solar Sizing for Semiconductor and Medical Device Factories at BKIP

Semiconductor wafer fabrication and medical device manufacturing share a key electrical characteristic: extremely stable, continuous baseload. Unlike batch manufacturing where demand peaks and troughs are dramatic, fabs and ISO cleanrooms maintain near-constant power draws 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This continuous load profile creates a unique solar sizing consideration: rather than sizing the system to cover the entire bill, BKIP factory solar systems are typically sized to fully saturate daytime self-consumption, with Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) dispatch for Maximum Demand management during the high-tariff morning ramp-up window.

Illustrative system configurations for BKIP factories:

• Semiconductor wafer-fab adjacent facility: 200–400 kWp solar. Annual savings: about RM 75,000–150,000 at the MV General energy rate. Maximum demand savings are not counted.
• Medical device clean-manufacturing building: 150–280 kWp solar. Annual savings: about RM 56,000–105,000 at the MV General energy rate. Stable daytime HVAC and equipment load suits on-site use.
• Electronic component assembly hall: 280–500 kWp solar. Annual savings: about RM 105,000–188,000 at the MV General energy rate. Solar ATAP applies, with any surplus export credit forfeited monthly.

TNB Tariff Structure for BKIP: MV General, MV ToU and What They Mean for Your Bill

BKIP facilities connect at Medium Voltage (33kV) and are billed under TNB's Medium Voltage General or Medium Voltage Time of Use (ToU) tariff, which replaced the old industrial tariff structure on 1 July 2025. Under the RP4 schedule, the MD charge on MV General is RM 89.27 per kW per month (RM 97.06 on MV ToU, charged on peak-period demand) — meaning a factory on MV General with a 500 kW MD pays RM 44,635 monthly in demand charges alone, regardless of actual kWh consumed. Maximum demand is therefore modelled separately from your own bills when sizing solar.

MV General charges a single energy rate of RM 0.2983/kWh. MV ToU splits energy into a peak rate of RM 0.3132/kWh and an off-peak rate of RM 0.2723/kWh. Daytime energy is the primary target for solar self-consumption; off-peak energy is typically left to grid supply or BESS discharge where economically justified.

GITA 2026 Eligibility for BKIP Manufacturers

Green Investment Tax Allowance (GITA) at 60% of qualifying solar capex is available to all companies incorporated in Malaysia and paying corporate tax, including wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries registered under the Companies Act 2016. For multinational-owned factories this means the GITA benefit flows to the Malaysian entity, not the overseas parent, subject to the entity's statutory income position. Trexon prepares the full GITA (Asset) application documentation for MGTC (MyHIJAU) as part of every BKIP project scope, including the technical report and energy yield model; the application is submitted after commissioning and must be commissioned and submitted by 31 December 2026.

The GITA deadline is 31 December 2026. For an illustrative 300 kWp system at RM 720,000 (RM2,400/kWp before SST), the GITA allowance of RM 432,000 is worth up to RM 103,680 of tax at a 24% corporate rate if fully absorbed — reducing the effective system cost to RM 616,320 and shortening payback from about 6.4 to about 5.5 years. Use our Solar Savings Calculator to model your specific BKIP site, or explore factory solar solutions for the full technical overview.