ONE ON ONE
IN TALK WITH MDM NOOR AFIFAH ABDUL RAZAK The Deputy Secretary-General (Energy) of MESTECC shares insights on Malaysia’s energy landscape, the Ministry’s initiatives in driving the sector forward and National Energy Awards
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n today’s era, energy is at the heart of development; we use various forms of energy to build our cities that in turn provide goods, jobs and homes. However, our energy choices and consumption have an impact on the environment. Case in point, during the period of 1990 to 2016, more than 90% of electricity generated for Peninsular Malaysia was attained from fossil fuel. While the oil and gas industry contributed greatly to Malaysia’s energy sector and the economy as a whole, approximately 20% to the country’s GDP in recent years, the downstream and upstream activities of the industry have greatly impacted our environment such as marine pollution and gas emissions. Further, advances in living standards and the economic development saw an increased demand for electricity that consequently led to the increase in carbon emissions as more gas and coal have to be burnt to meet demand. Today, nations across the globe are exploring alternative energy sources in their pursuit of social and economic development. Malaysia is also on track to follow suit with government ministries like the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) taking the lead in transforming the country’s energy landscape. The Ministry focuses in three main areas namely wealth creations through Science & Technology; environmental pollution-free and resistance to climate; and creating a green & efficient energy sector by increasing the percentage from 2% - 20% of renewable energy for electricity generation, improve the national energy efficiency as well as the efficiency and transparency of the energy market to ensure the best tariffs for energy consumers. In accomplishing the tasks at hand, MESTECC has launched 73 initiatives to date of which 20 are dedicated to the energy sector. B&I met with MESTECC’s Deputy Secretary-General (Energy) Mdm Noor Afifah Abdul Razak to learn more about the Ministry’s initiatives to transform the country’s energy landscape. B&I: For the benefit of our readers, can you give us a brief overview on Malaysia’s energy sector today? Mdm Noor Afifah: To put it into correct perspective, although MESTECC has the word “energy” in its name, its mandate is only limited to the planning and development of the electricity supply sector. Therefore MESTECC’s is focused in ensuring continuous supply of electricity for the country, and not the energy sector as a whole. Malaysia’s electricity planning looks at three elements of the ‘energy trilemma’ – reliability, sustainability and affordability.
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This is a challenge for the Ministry as it is an intricate balancing act to ensure that the country has a reliable supply of electricity, and to make electricity affordable for the people by offering it at a competitive price. On the element of sustainability, the Ministry has to ensure the gas emissions from power generation are manageable and to meet our target under the Paris Agreement. So that’s the overall scenario of the energy sector. In addressing the ‘energy trilemma’, we have set aside a target of 20% Renewable Energy and 8% Energy Savings by 2025 for the country. We have a lot of programmes in the pipeline including giving out quota for RE in solar and non-solar to help us reach these targets, all of which will be announced by Minister Yeo Bee Yin very soon. B&I: Energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) are the main components to establish a sustainable energy platform in Malaysia. What benefits do companies reap from being involved in sustainable energy? Mdm Noor Afifah: Sustainable energy can actually bring many different benefits for companies across all industries. For example, under the Net Energy Metering (NEM) programme organised by Sustainable Development Authority Malaysia (SEDA), the companies are able to install solar PV system to generate electricity for their own use and thus reduce their monthly electricity bill, as well as selling the excess solar energy back to Tenaga Nasional (TNB). The participating companies can invest on their own solar PV system or opt for solar leasing where they pay a lower electricity tariff. The NEM programme has attracted many companies, so we are limiting the quota to 500MW until end of 2020 on a first come first served basis. MESTECC has also established the Energy Performance Contracting Fund (EPC Fund) to spur the nascent energy efficiency service industry. A fund of RM200 million provided by Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad (MDV) together with the credit guarantee support contributed by the Ministry. In addition, funds amounting to RM5.8 million have been injected to reprofile the financing rate to 7.0% per annum and thus enhance the attractiveness of this financing package. This initiative will be a catalyst for ESCO development and will create a business ecosystem for the energy services industry that is expected to grow based on market-based mechanisms. B&I: MESTECC has recently organised the second edition of the National Energy Award in part of its initiative to promote
