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Is Malaysia ready for the renewable

energy era?
Boo Cheng Hau  |  Published: 21 Oct 2017, 4:48 am  |  Modified: 21 Oct 2017, 4:48 am

ADUN SPEAKS | Western European countries are working towards

phasing out internal combustion engine vehicles, with Sweden and
Netherland being the pioneers. Germany is expected to do so by 2030
and China by 2040.

These major markets would decide the forms of renewable energy, and
fossil fuels prices would likely remain stagnant even though they would
not be totally phased out within the next few decades.
So, where is Malaysia headed? While we are an oil and gas-rich tropical
country, we should view agro-based green energy, hydrogen fuels, solar
energy and wind energy as our next economic frontier.

Under the New Economic Policy (NEP), the heavy involvement of

government-linked companies (GLCs) in the economy has had mixed
results.

To overcome new challenges arising from porous international markets, a

bolder free-market economic policy and blue ocean strategies should be
deployed to encourage the growth of local industries.

China's corporate sector has invested a great deal in research and

development (R&D) of thin-film solar panels including direct solar-
generated electrical cars for the future, but the actual harness efficiency
of solar energy may only be up to 17 percent during mass production.

The most relevant question to ask is whether local car makers are
prepared to invest more in R&D to produce more competitive models
of electrical and direct solar-powered cars in the future by looking not
only at markets of developed nations but also other tropical developing
countries?
It is vital for many developing tropical countries where fossil fuel-
generated electrical power supply may be unreliable or expensive,
especially for remote inland areas of Malaysia.

Solar panels in homes

To make solar energy as a main renewable source of energy is to make

sure more efficient, affordable and less carbon-emitting solar panels
would be in mass production.

The question is, has Malaysia, a tropical country which spearheaded

automobile production very early on, ever taken any initiative in R&D of
solar-powered automobile and technology besides Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) in
Johor?

Note that even high school students in more advanced nations are
involved in solar-powered vehicles R&D.

Also, the government has to ensure the photovoltaic (PV) system is

readily affordable for both off- and on-grid home usage.
The present cost of installing a home on-grid PV system may be between
RM60,000 to RM100,000 to power an upper-middle-income household,
and it may take more than seven years to recoup the investment after the
abolition of the Feed-In-Tariff (FiT) system by the Sustainable Energy
Development Authority (Seda).

This is beyond the means of an average lower or middle-income

Malaysian household if no financing scheme is provided.

It seems very unattractive for lower-income groups to install solar panels

in their homes at the moment, which is prohibitively expensive unless
government policies are introduced to encourage the mass production of
the PV system and make it more affordable.

A good option is to consider is incentives for financiers who offer a hire-

and-purchase or lease contract system for the lower-income households.

Government policies should provide incentives for the main electricity

supplier to provide flexible FiT systems to small-scale users and more
effective mass research and production of the PV system.

With the abolition of FiT to commercial usage being replaced by net-

metering system starting 2017, it is still lucrative for the industrial and
commercial sectors with electricity bill in excess of RM30,000 per month
to install the solar PV system for their own usage.

Also, schools and other community facilities could also get good returns
from investing in the FiT system.

Other measures that should be taken into considerations to encourage

the use solar energy should include the off-grid standalone system for
remote inland areas that do not have access to electricity and replacing
street lights under municipal councils with LED street lights.

Solar can trump Pengerang Rapid

Futuristic renewable energy sources are real and will shape the future
energy market. However, have we showed enough determination to
achieve an emission-free society?
Instead of investing in renewable energy sources and a sustainable
economy, the government has invested billions of ringgit in fossil fuel
such as the Pengerang Rapid project.

Every 3.5 acre of land for solar power equipment (2.8 acres for solar
panel's surface area) could produce one gigawatt hour (GWh) per year
while Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) is a huge oil and
gas project taking up 20,000 acres (8,093 ha) which could house a
massive solar plant supplying 5,714 GWh per year.

The average Malaysian household consumes 251-kilowatt hour (KWh) per

month (or 3,012 KWh per year). At the present demand rate, this means
8.4 acres of land for solar power generation could support 1,000
Malaysian households.

The Pengerang Rapid land mass could well supply the electricity demand
of 2.4 million Malaysian households - more than three times of Johor’s
own 730,000 households.

Low oil prices

It is unwise for the government to depend on oil price to increase our
country’s revenues. Oil prices are going to remain stagnant for years to
come after the Paris Agreement in 2015.

While other oil-producing countries in the Middle East, China and US are
venturing into renewable energy such as solar and wind-powered
electricity as the energy source of the future, carbon-emission energy
sources such as fossil fuel would become the last resort.

We should take a more decisive step towards renewable energy sources

with less or zero-emission.

We should invest more decisively in developing solar panels, wind

turbines, hydrogen fuels and value-added agricultural renewable energy.

Pengerang Rapid which takes up huge land mass and increases our

carbon emission is not cost-efficient.

It is not necessary for us to destroy our forests for large-scale solar power
farms. Individual rooftops - domestic, commercial, residential premises as
well as community and public facilities - would serve adequately to
harness solar energy.

In time, mass production of advanced but affordable solar panels would

make it more attractive for individuals and the communities to install
solar panels to reduce the necessity for large-scale solar farms.

DR BOO CHENG HAU is the Skudai state assemblyperson.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not
necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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