14
cover story
@green | July-August, 2020
Push for
solar thermal
applications
From the UNIDO MAEESTA Solar Thermal Market
Analysis study, the total annual energy savings potential
is 7,042 GWh with the highest potential from the food
and beverage industry followed by the waste and wood
products and chemical industries.
Based on the study, the deployment of targeted solar
thermal capacity will bring various benefits in terms of
economic, social and environmental aspects.
The MAEESTA project is scheduled to be completed by
December 2020. But the pandemic has caused a delay in
some project implementations.
“We are planning to extend the project until the third
quarter of 2021,” Azmi said to @green in an interview.
Excerpts of the interview;
The deployment
of targetted
solar thermal
capacity will bring
economic, social
and environmental
benefits
MAEESTA Expert Training
Programme.
BY KHIRTINI K KUMARAN
When the Malaysia Energy
Efficiency and Solar Thermal
Application Project
(MAEESTA) began in 2015,
the awareness of solar thermal
technology was relatively low.
“People were less aware of
solar thermal and generally
mistake them with photovoltaic (PV) technology,” said
Senior Director and National Project Manager of GEF
UNIDO and SIRIM Project, Dr Azmi Idris.
A Project Management Unit leads the daily management
of MAEESTA (PMU) established within SIRIM Berhad, the
National Executing Agency.
At the beginning of MAeeSTA’s implementation, the
project focused on organising seminars to create awareness
among the Malaysian industries on the benefits of
solar thermal as an alternative heat energy supply for their
industrial process.
This is important given that MAEESTA is a national
initiative to support the Malaysian government’s commitment
to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The
project is implemented by the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO).
The project has since diverted its focus to the realisation
of the solar thermal demonstration projects and sustainability
of the MAEESTA initiatives.
“The project is still running with the capacity-building
programme, which includes awareness, user, intensive
expert and on the job training programmes,” Azmi said,
adding that UNIDO MAEESTA had allocated about US$1.27
million for the training and capacity-building programmes.
Being close to the equator, Malaysia has abundant sunshine
with average daily solar irradiations from 3.73kWh/
m2 to 5.11kWh/m2 and thus has significant potential for
solar energy application.
What does MAEESTA hope to achieve?
It hopes to achieve three primary outcomes, which are:
1) To prepare policy papers and establish financial incentive
schemes approved by stakeholders.
2) To create awareness and strengthen the capacity of local
experts in targetted industrial sub-sectors.
3) To demonstrate and deploy thermal energy efficiency
and solar thermal technology in targetted industrial
sub-sectors
What are the overall potential energy-saving and
CO2 emission reduction from the implementation
of EE initiatives and solar thermal application by the
industries identified?
MAAESTA would achieve an energy savings of 360,000 GJ
from solar thermal and 40,603,583 GJ from thermal energy
efficiency implementation.
This is equivalent to six per cent of the industrial energy
usage reported in National Energy Balance 2016. On the
other hand, the targeted greenhouse gases emission reduction
from solar thermal is 24 ktCO2, and thermal energy
efficiency is 2,735 ktCO2 which contributes to a total of 0.7
per cent of Malaysia’s COP21 target.
The target would entail an investment of RM1.54 billion
throughout 2019-2025 and would result in 3.8 per cent
industrial energy consumption savings.
This translates into an annual savings of RM326.9 million
for industries and will also reduce the fuel subsidy
burden of Malaysia by 1.4 per cent.
On the environmental front, this would lead to a yearly
emission reduction of 763 kilotons CO2-eq, which will help
plug a significant portion of the national CO2 reduction
targets such as 0.19 per cent of the COP21 annual target.
The solar thermal has the lowest cost of CO2 avoided
– RM0.34/kg-CO2, among all familiar renewable energy
sources. It thus has the potential to achieve sustainability
targets of Malaysia in the most economical manner.
How will UNIDO MAEESTA motivate the industrial
sector to adopt EE and solar thermal applications?
The motivation to embark in green technology projects
varies depending on the size of the companies. Big and
multinational companies have well-defined mechanisms
in place that help to promote a greener image of their
industries to meet green policy targets locally and globally.
For small and medium enterprises (SME), the motivation
to involve in green technology comes from the
insistence to be more competitive in production capacity
and cost. UNIDO MAEESTA continuously supports companies
to achieve green policy targets by initiatives such as;
• providing training and capacity building programmes
to teach industries to do a self-energy audit and provide
measures/ways to optimise thermal energy usage in
obtaining energy and cost savings
• provide consultancy by UNIDO international & local
experts on energy management and audit and solar
thermal technology and design, and
• provide funding for companies to implement solar
thermal projects to reduce fossil fuel consumptions
Has the project proposed any policies/regulations/financial
instruments to the government to
encourage the adoption of EE and solar thermal
applications?
Currently, there is no specific Act regulating thermal
energy use in Malaysia. Recognising the need to pursuing
a broader energy regulation including both electricity and
thermal energy, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation
Act (EECA) was drafted in 2019 by the government.
However, due to the recent government restructuring,
a delay is expected.
For supporting the development of solar thermal in
Malaysia, the MAEESTA is currently producing two policy
input documents:
1) Solar Thermal Market Analysis for Malaysian Industries.