Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor

The forum featured industry experts and thought leaders discussing forefront topics such as the future of renewables , solar technology improvements , hydropower usage and hydrogen utilisation .

During the opening ceremony of CPNE , Datuk Ali Biju , the Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources ( KeTSA ) delivered his keynote address and said the theme Shaping the Future of Energy in Asia was timely as countries across the region were moving to transition their respective energy system toward a low-carbon pathway . The transition opens up new economic opportunities and challenges in the energy sector .

“ It is without a doubt that the energy sector plays an important role in achieving the government ’ s development goals . It is one of the sectors crucial in charting the path of current and future economic development . In Malaysia , developing a robust , reliable , low-carbon energy sector is always placed high on our national agenda . This is a vital prerequisite for the country to attract quality investment ,” elaborated Ali .

He shared that the 12th Malaysia Plan and the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 were the pieces of evidence demonstrating the government ’ s commitment to ensuring a reliable , equitable and sustainable energy system in Malaysia . No one will be deprived or left off as the country ’ s electricity supply system transitions to a clean , sustainable , low-carbon , modern approach .

“ Three main tenets guide the Energy Policy and Planning in Malaysia : security

Datuk Ali Biju

Davis Chong

of supply , sustainability and affordability . We acknowledge the need to transition towards a sustainable electricity sector .”

Malaysia ’ s renewable energy commitment

Ali emphasised that the government was committed to transitioning the electricity supply system towards a low-carbon energy system . Such a pursuit is guided by Malaysia Renewable Energy Roadmap ( MyRER ), a roadmap that serves as a strategic framework focusing on increasing the share of four key renewable energy resources , namely solar , biomass , biogas and hydro , within Malaysia ’ s electricity supply system through a balanced yet sustainable approach , said Ali .

“ The roadmap implementation is expected to increase Malaysia ’ s installed power capacity for RE to 31 per cent in 2025 and 40 per cent in 2035 , compared to the existing 23 per cent . We envision this clean energy transition for the power sector will create and accumulate direct investment of RM53 billion while creating 47,000 job opportunities and 60 per cent carbon intensity reduction in 2035 .”

Ali highlighted that the energy transition would not come to fruition without the

active participation of the private sector . He believed that the support from CPNE participants would help Malaysia realise its aspiration toward a cleaner future .

MGTC and Solarvest support CPNE 2022

Commenting about the event , Davis Chong , the CEO of Solarvest Holdings Bhd , said CPNE was an excellent platform to gather everyone from the renewable energy industry in Malaysia , especially after the pandemic . He shared that Solarvest had been focusing on engineering , procurement , construction and commissioning ( EPCC ) and the generation side for years , and now the company is moving to focus more downstream .

“ The distributed generation , utility connections to the grid , and the transformation from fossil to clean energy are still the major topics . But we can be more innovative ,” Chong commented , explaining that the innovation will help build more demand and capacity on the generation side .

Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Centre ( MGTC ) CEO Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor said CPNE would have stakeholders and industrial players looking at utilising clean energy as a source of energy to be a net zero greenhouse gas emission nation by 2050 .

Touching on hydrogen as the energy source , Shamsul said : “ It is still new , but we need to have the infra . If you look at Sarawak , they already have the refilling station . They plan to have a few from Kuching until Limbang .”

However , he stressed that the most crucial element was the production of green hydrogen , whether it comes from hydropower or solar .

“ Once we build hydrogen production , we could use green hydrogen in any industry to replace fossil fuels . It is very much needed for Malaysia to be a 40 per cent RE nation by 2035 ,” shared Shamsul . — @ Green