Malaysia is set to see a substantial growth in renewable technologies, including biomass, biogas, mini-hydro and solar, as the nation launches a new tariff system.
The new target will see a 5.5 percent contribution from renewable energy to the country’s generation mix by 2015. The country’s high level of pollution is the driving factor for support from the nation to install effective renewable energy targets.
The current situation for renewables is barely noticeable and according to government this is set to change drastically. The 2009 plan added renewable energy sources to the mixture of oil, gas, coal and hydropower, although renewable capacity excluding hydropower was only 53 MW at the end of 2009. The next plant implemented from 2006-2010 was more able to reduce the dependency on imported petroleum and targets were set for 300 MW of renewable energy in Peninsular Malaysia and 50 MW in Sabah. The latest plan effective from 2011-2015 focuses more on energy efficiency, the plan will run cohesively with the national biomass initiative and a further governmental commitment to a 40 percent reduction in carbon intensity.
The plan titled the National Renewable Energy Policy and Action Plan will aim to draw more energy from renewables. The current energy providers are forced to use more coal in order to meet demands as the diminishing natural gas problem persists.
On 28 April this year, Malaysia’s House of Representatives passed a Renewable Energy Bill (RE Bill) and a Bill for Sustainable Development Authority (SEDA Bill) and a one percent feed-in tariff (FiT). The FiT program has biomass, biogas, mini-hydropower and solar energy as current eligible resources.
With renewables looking to spur investments, the country is open to foreign investment in renewable energy projects.
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