July-August, 2020 | @green
cover story
15
The four critical
initiatives of MAEESTA
By Khirtini K Kumaran
The Malaysia Energy Efficiency and Solar
Thermal Application Project (MAEESTA) is a
national initiative supported by the Malaysian
government. It is implemented by the United
Nations Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO) for the development of thermal
energy efficiency (EE) and application of solar
thermal in Malaysian industries.
The project is funded by the Global
Environment Facility (GEF) with an allocation of
US$4 million through four project initiatives;
• Support the Malaysian government to
establish Market Analysis highlighting the
solar thermal market’s potential by 2025
and a deployment strategy to meet the
targeted capacity potential
• Awareness of thermal energy efficiency
and solar thermal technology for industrial
usage
• A training and capacity building
programme to create a pool of local
experts for the growth of the solar thermal
technology supply chain in Malaysia
• A demonstration project to showcase the
Facts and Figures
The UNIDO MAEESTA
Demonstration Programme
• For UNIDO MAEESTA demonstration
projects, UNIDO provides funding of 30
per cent (capped at RM400,000) of the
solar thermal system cost, excluding the
civil and structural works by UNIDO to the
companies that are willing to take part in
the demo project.
• The host company will obtain the
ownership of the solar thermal systems at
the end of the demo project.
• Like most of the renewable energy
technologies, solar thermal technology
is characterised by higher upfront
costs and significantly lower variable
costs like operational and maintenance
costs because of absence of paid fuel
requirements.
• The system costs can greatly differ and
are very much dependent on the energy
requirement, availability of roof area/land
area, desired efficiency, life expectancy,
quality of material employed and
application as the costs may abruptly rise
due to inclusion of additional facilities like
thermal storage, system controls, pumps,
piping, construction costs including
foundation for establishing new area, etc.
technology and financial viability of solar
thermal projects
This five-year project was developed based
on Malaysia’s vast potential for thermal energy
savings and solar thermal energy utilisation
and aims to assist the Malaysian government
in fighting climate change by reducing GHG
emissions to the atmosphere.
This is through the promotion and
demonstration of energy efficiency, and
solar thermal systems for low and medium
temperature (<200 o C) process heat in
industries and commercial buildings.
The project focuses on improving thermal
EE at manufacturing and processing plants
with possible integration of solar thermal
systems in targeted industrial sub-sectors.
The sub-sectors include chemical &
pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, rubber &
rubber products, textile, plastics, hotels and
hospitals.
The daily management of the project is
led by SIRIM Berhad, the national executing
agency. The National Project Steering
Committee (NPSC) is chaired by the Ministry of
Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI).
• Typical payback time depends on the
existing fuel that the solar thermal is
replacing. For instance, the typical
payback period for replacing electricity
system is between 3-5 years, diesel and
LPG is 4-6 years and NG is 5-7 years.
• Industrial sector has high usage of hot
water for its industrial process and
has potential to be involved in UNIDO
MAEESTA demonstration projects.
• The hotel industry is a great avenue for the
proliferation of solar thermal technology in
Malaysia. The majority of hotels in Malaysia
have domestic hot water (at temperatures
of around 60°C) and space for cooling
requirements such as air conditioning,
thereby providing a great opportunity for
penetration of solar thermal technology.
• The system costs can greatly differ
depending on the cost components
involved in the project. From UNIDO
projects, the investment ranged from
RM200,000 to RM1,243,000.
• Until Feb 2020, 10 demonstration projects
amounting RM1.78 million with an
expected savings of RM376,657 had been
approved.
The UNIDO Industrial Energy Efficiency for Malaysian
Manufacturing Sector (IeeMMS) project was previously
implemented for the energy management and optimisation
of equipment such as boilers, pump, fan and
air-compressors.
In continuing the EE programme initiatives for
manufacturing industries, the MAEESTA project was then
established to focus on thermal energy efficiency improvement
and integration of solar thermal energy technology
for industrial process heat.
Through the MAEESTA training & capacity building
programme, a solar thermal community platform can be
developed in Malaysia for establishing a complete market
chain.
The programme will increase competency levels
and knowledge of thermal energy optimisation. It will
also help energy consultants and energy service companies
to expand their business by introducing new energy
efficiency solutions and venturing into the solar technology
business.
Apart from allocating about US$1.27 million for the
training and capacity building programme, UNIDO provides
international and local experts to support industries
for conducting a thermal energy audit and proposing
energy efficiency solutions in enterprises.
MAEESTA also has measurement equipment that can be
utilised by the participants joining the programme.
For on-site training in industries using process heating
under the expert training programme, MAEESTA offers
high-quality expert training, free energy audit finding and
savings recommendations.
How many companies were involved in the trainings
and from which industrial subsectors?
Up to April 2020, about 54 companies have joined our
expert training programme. Till June 2020, there were
868 awareness seminar participants, 360 user training
participants and 105 expert training course participants
on solar thermal.
MAEESTA has also produced 19 certified local experts.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the training programmes
were still running via an online platform.
For continuity and sustainability, the training and
capacity building programme will be handed over to a
government agency at the end of the project.
Were the objectives achieved?
We have not yet received comprehensive feedback from
participants and host industries on the effectiveness of the
training programmes.
A feedback survey to industries will be conducted to
measure the achievement of the training programmes.
— @green
2) Policy Brief on Solar Thermal Deployment
Strategy for Malaysian Industries.
As for financing, companies to install
solar thermal systems can use their funds or
get financing from local banks. The government
also provides financial support and
fiscal incentives to companies.
Also, there are and schemes such as
the Green Technology Financing Scheme
(GTFS), which was introduced in 2010. It
is a soft loan scheme worth RM1.5 billion.
Companes can also raise finance via
Sukuk Islamic bond used to fund specific,
environmentally sustainable infrastructure
projects.
As for incentives, the government provides
Green Investment Tax Incentives
where companies that implement green
technology projects are eligible for two types
of tax exemptions.
They are the Green Investment Tax
Allowance (GITA) and the Green Investment
Tax Exemption (GITE), both of which were
extended to 2023 in Budget 2020.
There is also the Eco Labelling MyHijau
Mark called MyHIJAU which is an official
green recognition endorsed by the Malaysian
government.
It is an initiative embarked by MGTC to
promote the sourcing and purchasing of
green products and services in Malaysia.
What about capacity building
programmes?
MAEESTA energy audit at host company.