Are vested interests slowing Malaysia's shift to renewables?

Are vested interests slowing Malaysia's shift to renewables?

Penang is one of Malaysia's sunniest states. So why is solar, wind and other
renewables still such a small part of its energy mix, politicians were asked
at the Penang Green Carnival this weekend.

It has plentiful sunshine, easy access to affordable solar technology, a
progressive local government that protects its nature reserves, one of the
highest recycling rates in the country, and a populace that is increasingly
aware of climate change. So why has Penang, one of Malaysia's greenest
states, been so slow to transition to renewable energy?

Speakers at a public forum on Sunday at the Penang Green Carnival, hosted by
the state government's Green Council, proposed that "a corruption of the
mind" and a profit-first mindset are likely one of the biggest obstacles to
renewable energy development in Malaysia today.

As Phee Boon Poh, chairman of Penang's State Welfare, Caring Society and
Environment Committee, put it: "Penang receives the second most sunshine in
Malaysia. We have many factories with roofs that could be used for solar
power generation. But unfortunately, the energy market is not open and does
not attract investors in renewables."

This is because Malaysia's energy marketing is dominated by a single
supplier, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Phee said.

Phee, who is also vice-chair of the government's Penang Green Council,
responded to a question from the audience on how the state's transition to
renewable energy could be hastened. He was speaking on a panel debating how
to combat climate change, which included Dato Maimunah bt Mohd Sharif, the
mayor of Penang Island, and Dato Sr Haji Rozali bin Haji Mohamud, the
president of the municipal council of Seberang Perai.

If the national energy market was more open and competitive, and there were
more incentives to invest in renewable energy, "just imagine how quickly the
uptake of solar would be in Penang," suggested Phee.

If solar energy could be exploited to its full potential, the roofs of most
buildings could be used to capture solar energy, and wind could also become
a valuable part of the energy mix in the coastal state, Phee said.

Death of the feed-in tarrif

A slow shift to renewable energy is not just an issue for Penang. Currently,
only around 3 per cent of Malaysia's energy comes from renewable sources,
mostly from hydropower, with a small contribution from biomass, biogas and
solar. Fossil fuels - primarily coal and natural gas - currently account for
more than 90 per cent of power generated in Malaysia.

Though the country is aiming to increase the proportion of renewables it
uses to 11 per cent by 2020, there are also plans for TNP to massively
increase the volume of coal Malaysia uses over the same timeframe to meet
the country's growing energy demand; Malaysia's energy needs are predicted
to triple by 2050.

The pace of Malaysia's transition to renewables took a big hit in November
last year, when a feed-in tariff mechanism that enabled consumers to
generate energy from solar, biogas, biomass and small hydro sources, and
sell any excess power back to TNP, was scrapped. It was introduced in 2011.

The net energy metering (NEM) system replaced it. This enables consumers
with renewable energy capacity to make savings on their electricity bills,
but they cannot sell unused electricity back to the grid.

The effect of this policy change has been to limit the appeal of renewables
to environmentally conscious consumers, or those with high electricity
bills.

The uptake of solar energy, the most promising form of renewable energy in
Penang, has been faster among commercial and industrial customers.
Businesses get tax breaks that cut the investment in renewable technology by
about half, and enable savings of around 20 per cent on their energy bills.

Phee, who last month was arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission because of his involvement with an illegal carbon
filter-processing factory, shared how he had made an appeal for tidal power
to be integrated into a second bridge linking Penang Island to the Malaysian
peninsula, which was opened in 2014.

Tidal energy could have powered lights for the bridge and associated
administrative buildings, Phee said. "But unfortunately, one of the main
reasons why this [investment in renewables] is not happening is due to
vested financial interests and corruption," he said.

Phee later qualified that by corruption, he meant a "mindset of profit gain"
that ignored environmental consequences. "If we eradicate corruption, we
will have a better environment," he said.

Mindset shift needed

Though Penang's shift to renewables is proving to be slow, the state's chief
minister Lim Guan Eng highlighted key measures that the state had taken to
fight climate change and safeguard the environment.

These included giving incentives for green buildings and enforcing a policy
of waste segration at source that has helped increase the recycling rate to
38 per cent, the highest in Malaysia, and well above the national recycling
rate of 22 per cent. It aims to recycle 40 per cent of its waste by 2020.

The mayor of Penang Island City Council, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, who was
appointed this July, the same month as the devastating floods that affected
large parts of the city, added that her district was tackling climate change
at a local level through measures including a bicycle sharing scheme,
cycling lane infrastructure that spans the island, the installation of LED
street lights and the introduction of a car-free day every Sunday.

Municipal council president Haji Rozali bin Haji Mohamud also noted during
Sunday's panel discussion that the region of Seberang Perai was investing in
a tree planting scheme, solar farms and waste reduction programmes that aim
to halve per capita carbon emissions by 2022.

Phee said that while he was proud of what the state had achieved to become
"cleaner, greener, safer, healthier and happier" - Penang's slogan - there
is much to be done to make a state that was severely hit by flooding in July
more climate resilient.

For instance, all new high-density buildings should be built with
biodigesters to generate biogas from food waste, not only to help power the
buildings themselves but to provide cheap electricity for the local council
to power lighting in common areas, he said.

Biogas should also be harvested from the sewage systems of the state's
highly polluting chicken and pig farms, said Phee, adding that for this to
happen would require a change in the laws that prohibit the re-use of animal
waste.

In conclusion, Phee said: "The heavy rain and flooding in Penang also
affected our neighbours, and shows us that we are not alone in facing
climate change. We must not be selfish. The question is not is climate
change is real, it's how we respond to it. It's happening everywhere, and
everyone must play a role."

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http://www.eco-business.com/news/are-vested-interests-slowing-malaysias-shif
t-to-renewables/

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com




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