May-June , 2021 | @ green
COVER STORY
11
Malaysia ’ s green progress
SEDA Malaysia ’ s newlyappointed CEO gives an update on the country ’ s renewable energy progress and his aspirations to bring the industry to greater heights
BY JOHNSON FERNANDEZ
IN JANUARY 2021 , Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah , Minister of Energy and Natural Resources ( KeTSA ), announced the latest renewable energy ( RE ) target for Malaysia to be 31 per cent by 2025 and 40 per cent in 2035 . The target is deemed achievable given the current progress of RE development in Malaysia .
Sustainable Energy Development Authority ( SEDA ) Malaysia CEO Dato ' Hamzah Hussin filled @ green in on the current status of RE in Malaysia .
He said : “ The estimated total installed energy capacity in Malaysia in 2020 consists of fossil at 76.55 per cent ( Coal 36.13 per cent , Diesel 3.33 per cent , Natural Gas 36.08 per cent , others 1.02 per cent ) and RE at 23.45 per cent installed capacity ( Large Hydro 15.62 per cent , Biomass 1.94 per cent , Biogas 0.32 per cent , Small Hydro 1.39 per cent and Solar 4.18 per cent ).
Along with SEDA Malaysia ' s initiatives and plans for the industry , the data gave Hamzah the confidence that the RE industry was on the right track to achieve the national capacity target by 2025 .
Malaysia ’ s RE capacity is helmed by programmes such as Large Scale Solar ( LSS ), self-consumption solar ( SELCO ), Feed-in Tariff ( FiT ) and Nett Energy Metering ( NEM ) programmes . While the Energy Commission ( EC ) manages the LSS and SELCO programmes , SEDA Malaysia is in charge of the FiT and NEM programme .
He shared that the FiT mechanism introduced in 2011 saw a cumulative approved capacity of 1,352.02MW from 10,464 applications as of April 2021 . SEDA Malaysia was targeting to complete a total of 75MW from FiT projects from 18 Feed-In Approval Holders ( FiAHs ) in 2021 .
“ This year , SEDA Malaysia is conducting biogas , small hydro , and biomass e-biddings . The government , through SEDA Malaysia , will open applications for FiT quotas totalling 188MW for biogas , small hydro and biomass resources in Peninsular Malaysia in June 2021 .
“ A quota of 32MW was allocated for biogas , 126MW for small hydro and 30MW for biomass projects . The new FiT quotas would be able to generate RM1.5 billion in investments .
“ It will also create 600 job opportunities in the RE industry ,” Hamzah said , adding that the projects approved would begin generating and supplying electricity starting from mid-2024 .
Aside from the FiT mechanism , the Authority is also continuing the successful NEM programme with a new allocation of 500MW quota through three sub-schemes for the latest NEM 3.0 offerings .
“ NEM3.0 is a three-year programme commenced in phases starting from February 2021 until December 2023 .” The schemes are :
• the NEM Rakyat programme for residential systems , which will allocate 100 MW and grant a nett metering tariff over 10 years ;
• the NEM GoMEn regime for government ministries and public entities , through which another 100 MW is assigned under the same conditions as the NEM Rakyat ; and
• The 300 MW NOVA scheme or Nett Offset Virtual Aggregation will enable commercial and industrial PV system owners to sell excess power to the grid at average system marginal price ( SMP ). As of May 19 , 2021 , a total of 9.33MW quota has been applied under the NEM Rakyat scheme . NEM GoMEn sees a 13.22MW applied , and NOVA has a 226.48MW quota applied so far .
The programme aims to enable more Malaysians , government agencies , houses of worship , and companies and local entrepreneurs to be part of the country ’ s renewable energy development and reduce their electricity bills to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic .
Malaysia ’ s green progress , particularly in
As of April 2021 , a total of 43,486 rebates quota has been redeemed with the savings enjoyed by buyers amounted to RM8,697,200.00 . The voucher will be available until the end of this year , and we are hoping the public could take up this opportunity and enjoy a saving from their air conditioner or refrigerator purchase .” – Dato ’ Hamzah Hussin