Malaysia To Produce 2,500 MW Electricity Through Solar Energy By 2020 - KETTHA

Malaysia To Produce 2,500 MW Electricity Through Solar Energy By 2020 -
KETTHA

The government is committed to promoting the use of renewable energy (RE) to
generate electricity in Malaysia, in a bid to reduce dependence on a single
source.

Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA) Secretary-General,
Datuk Seri Dr Zaini Ujang, said it was the government's policy to diversify
the RE sources.

"SEDA (Sustainable Energy Development Authority) was established to promote
the development and growth of RE.

"Today, the overall usage of RE in Malaysia is only about 22 per cent,
especially in Sarawak where hydropower is abundant," he said in the Bernama
News Channel "Ruang Bicara" interview recently.

One of the advantages of widespread use of RE was that it would ultimately
reduce the electricity tariff rate in the country.

"People asked me why electricity is cheaper in Sweden compared to other
countries. This is because the Swedes use more hydro and nuclear energy.
Hence, they do not depend on the price fluctuations of oil, gas or other
fossil fuel (to generate electricity).

"They not only use sources that are considered renewable for the long term
and they also have high credit rating which allows them to get bank loans at
lower interest rate," he added.

He said countries with high credit rating also get longer loan repayment
period of between 40 and 60 years compared to less than 21 years in
Malaysia, which lowers their electricity tariff.

"This is one of the reasons why we should encourage the use of RE. The
question is whether the capacity for solar energy can be as dominant as the
main sources currently, namely gas and coal.

"We have a principle on energy sources whereby the power source ratio should
meet several criteria and we do not want to be overly dependent on a single
source (to generate electricity) ," he added.

Malaysia had introduced several initiatives to promote solar energy as an
alternative source to generate electricity, Zaini said, adding the country
had targeted to produce 2,500 megawatts (MW) or 10 per cent of its
electricity requirements from this source by 2020.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/688742-malaysia-to-produce-2-500-mw-elec
tricity-through-solar-energy-by-2020-kettha.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com