@ green | November-December , 2020 tion of the Energy Transition Index ( ETI ) 2020 by the World Economic Forum . It emphasised that the “ rapidly unfolding repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic across the energy system illustrate the need for resilience – not just in physical infrastructure and cyberspace – but also in energy transition policies , roadmaps and international cooperation mechanisms .

The Malaysian government has rolled out a series of economic stimulus packages to the tune of nearly RM295 billion to help various sectors of the population and economy . Within the announced economic stimulus package by the government , 1,400MW are to be awarded to solar PV projects . Of this , 400MW will be for rooftop installations under the NEM while 1,000MW will be for Large Scale Solar ( LSS ) projects . Importantly for the rooftop installations , 300MW is for domestic , commercial , industrial and agricultural sectors of Tenaga Nasional Berhad ’ s consumers while 100MW is allocated for government buildings . This is supported with the FiT programme for other renewable resources such as Biomass , Biogas and Small Hydro .

With regards to RETR 2035 , industry players are looking for a signal and indication so they too can plan . While the National RE Policy and Action Plan ( NREPAP ) has been the pivotal RE policy , it was concluded that a new RE policy was required to continue to advance the RE agenda that will facilitate an energy transition towards a cleaner form of power generation . This requirement is timely given that the NREPAP was approved by the Cabinet back in April 2010 .

The roadmap represents a cohesive strategic plan for the country to reach a committed RE target by the milestone years of 2025 and 2035 . The roadmap will also address the energy trilemma of economic growth , energy security and environmental sustainability . The roadmap ’ s strategic framework includes specific pillars on technologies that address solar , bioenergy , hydro ; and innovative solutions coupled with the enabling initiatives leverage on electricity market reform , access to finance , future-readiness and system flexibilities .

The publication of this roadmap will resonate with the economic recovery of the nation post-Covid-19 by reducing our dependency on petroleum products , mainstreaming environment by accelerating RE and making the energy transition as an integral part of the broader post-Covid-19 recovery . — @ green

While the National RE Policy and Action Plan ( NREPAP ) has been the pivotal RE policy , it was concluded that a new RE policy was required to continue to advance the RE agenda that will facilitate an energy transition towards a cleaner form of power generation .”

1 ) Ensuring the outreach of the NEM programme

Under the NEM 1.0 scheme ( 2016-2018 ), it was based on the prevailing displaced costs , which are much lower than the regulated electricity retail tariff . The take-up rate was shallow among the electricity consumers with only 27.8 MW approved as of end-2018 .

After a review of the NEM 1.0 , in 2019 , the mechanism was improved to a “ 1-on-1 ” energy offset mechanism , meaning that each 1kWh of energy generated can be used to offset 1kWh of energy consumed . As per the bar chart below indicates , we could see the tremendous uptake of the NEM quota from the year 2016 to 2020 on approved NEM applications .

The NEM 1.0 , which started in 2016 , gives a dampened effect and SEDA endeavours to ensure the 500MW allocated quota for NEM 2.0 will be completed by year-end 2020 .

This is through various efforts namely ; awareness programmes , roadshows , advertisement campaigns , stakeholder engagements , dedicated NEM microsite , the NEM calculator coupled with a list of online Registered Solar PV Investor ( RPVI ) & Registered PV Service Providers ( RPVSP ) to facilitate the NEM uptake .

2 ) The Feed-in Tariff ( FiT ) programme

The Renewable Energy Act was established to catalyse and incentivise the promotion of RE into the grid via the Feed-in Tariff ( FiT ) system . The FiT is a mechanism that allows electricity produced from indigenous renewable resources to be sold to Distribution Licensees at a fixed premium price for a specific duration .

It is envisaged that this trajectory will grow over the next years to come to ensure Malaysia meets its target in renewable energy penetration .

SEDA continues to ensure robust management of the RE fund to ensure there is continuous balance quota allocated and funding required to incentivise the small RE programmes . From 2011 , there has been progressive growth of the FiT programme . As at end 2019 , the cumulative approved capacity of renewables under the FiT was 1,243.60MW . This represented a year-on-year ( YoY ) growth of 15.6 per cent from 2012 to 2019 .

The FiT programme has continuously evolved to ensure a conducive environment for the industries ; e . g . change from fixed price to the e-bidding mechanism . In 2020 , SEDA has conducted three successful biogas e-biddings , two successful small hydro e-biddings and in the future , biomass shall be included in the e-bidding mechanism . SEDA has said it would continuously upgrade the FiT system to meet the market requirement and provide better services ; transparencies and price discoveries .

3 ) SEDA ’ s Publications

SEDA continues to produce publications which include the in-house SEM magazine . In terms of strategic frameworks , SEDA is producing publications namely The Renewable Energy Transition Roadmap ( RETR ) 2035 and Malaysian Third National Communication and Second Biennial Update Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) to help the public understand matters in-depth related to sustainable energy .

4 ) Business Continuity Plan during the Covid-19 period

It was business-as-usual for SEDA even although it operates from home . SEDA continues in reaching out its stakeholders and various RE sectors via virtual meetings & discussions , including establishing a business continuity plan such that it supported the business-as-usual concept with least disruptions .

SEDA is also embracing digitalisation-IR 4.0 namely ; the usage of Microsoft Teams for virtual conferences , Microsoft Exchange Cloud which reduces the opex and increasing the reliability of SEDA ’ s email system , Microsoft Sharepoint – a knowledge depository that can be shared among SEDA ’ s staff throughout the organisation and Integration e-FiT System which is the e- cash flow ( moving towards e-system for digitalisation ).

5 ) Implementing Agency

SEDA Malaysia has been appointed as the implementing agency for the 3-Year Energy Management Programme , Implementation of Malaysian Standards ( MS ) 1525 and Low Carbon Buildings ( 2020 - 2023 ) by Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya ( MBPJ ) in November .

The MBPJ Energy Management Policy and Building Energy Data Online System ( BEDOS ) was developed by SEDA . MBPJ was the first Local Authority ( PBT ) in Malaysia that fully adopted the BEDOS system to monitor the MBPJ Management Programme . The BEDOS system provides free energy monitoring system to building owners in an effort to promote energy management and efficiency .— @ green