@ green Xtra 14 September-October , 2021

Power sector being heralded as one area to accelerate the economy postpandemic

BY BRIGITTE ROZARIO

WHILE THE country was caught up in the Covid-19 pandemic , few would have noticed the advancements made in national Renewable Energy ( RE ). Malaysia has now upped its RE targets from 20 per cent of the capacity mix by 2025 to 31 per cent .

The new target for 2035 is now 40 per cent .

The previous target was with the development of RE resources from biomass , biogas and hydro in mind . At that time , solar resources were given a lower mark . However , the scene has changed rapidly over recent years .

Ibrahim Ariffin , Director ( Energy Analyst ) at SEDA Malaysia ’ s Strategic Planning Division , attributed this to the acceleration of solar projects deployment over the past few years .

With the support from Feed-in- Tariff ( FiT ), Nett Energy Metering ( NEM ) and Large Scale Solar ( LSS ), solar projects have become more financially viable towards materialising higher solar capacity in the capacity mix .

“ Assessing other countries ’ experiences with higher solar penetration , Single Buyer ( the sole power purchasing agency for Malaysia Electric Supply Industry ( MESI )) has initiated a study to assess the grid system readiness ,” said Ibrahim .

“ This is towards accepting more capacity from variable renewables ( i . e ., solar resources for Malaysia ’ s current portfolio ) while ensuring system security and the highest reliability of the electricity supply and impact on affordability .

“ The study concluded at the end of 2018 . It showed that Peninsular

A 7MW Biomass Plant-Tenaga Sulpom Sdn Bhd , Dengkil , Selangor under the FiT programme .

Ibrahim Ariffin

Malaysia , in particular , can take as high as 24 per cent penetration limit without imposing significant risk to the grid system .

“ It provides insight to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources , regulators as well as utility companies in offering support to ramp up the solar capacity target in the capacity mix .”

The deployment of solar in Peninsular Malaysia will increase from the current 1GW capacity to 4.4GW by 2025 and 6.6GW by 2035 . This more than six-fold increment will see a sizeable injection into Malaysia ’ s future investment from RE .

Apart from addressing the climate-change impact , the power sector is being heralded as one area to accelerate the economy post-pandemic .

SEDA personnel monitoring a 4 MW biogas plant owned by Mistral Engineering Sdn Bhd in Sandakan , Sabah .

The boosted national RE target also supports ASEAN ’ s aspiration in realising 35 per cent of RE in the capacity mix while demonstrating Malaysia ’ s good governance in managing RE projects thus far .

With large hydro being recognised as one of the RE resources , the existing extensive hydro facilities in Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak contributed to the RE capacity mix with 5.7GW . It enabled Malaysia to pursue a higher RE target .

As of December 2020 , Malaysia had realised 8.45GW of RE capacity , equivalent to 23 per cent of RE in the capacity mix . An additional 3.3GW of RE resources , with nearly 2.7GW contributed by solar projects , was committed and expected to operate by 2025 . Malaysia looks to be on track towards realising the 31 per cent target by 2025 .

Serving our benefit

While Malaysia ’ s approach to solar energy implementation has been more cautious compared to other countries , this may end up serving our benefit .

“ Malaysia has been able to deliver high reliability of power supply , on par with that of developed countries , while maintaining an affordable electricity tariff . This achievement is coupled with the low disruption felt by customers .

“ The System Average Interruption Duration Index ( SAIDI ) remains on the more downside and comparable to developed countries . Higher penetration of variable generation resources , particularly solar , will impose risks to this success story .

“ Other countries have taken operational measures such as solar curtailment and load shedding to ensure system security . Financial intervention such as solar tax has