KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 29): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the Government is approving the allocation and redistribution of a renewable energy (RE) quota of 1,200MW for solar resources as an initial step to boost the country's commitment in the energy transition.
He said with the virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA), the Government expects 14,000 job opportunities and new investments worth RM6 billion to be created to support the development of the country's RE industry.
“The new quota will be distributed to the implementation of programmes under existing mechanisms including the New Enhanced Dispatch Arrangement (NEDA) and solar installation programmes on roofs of buildings,” he said.
He added that it will also be distributed to exploration of new RE programme implementation methods such as solar park development, electricity supply for the purpose of new data centers as well as green hydrogen generation.
Aside from that, he said there will be provision of a new option for the procurement of green electricity supply to corporate companies through the concept of the VPPA, starting in the fourth quarter of 2022, with a 600MW quota offer.
Ismail Sabri was speaking at the opening ceremony of the fifth International Sustainable Energy Summit (ISES) with the theme "Empowering Energy Transition". The summit was organised by the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry and Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) Malaysia.
The conference was also attended by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) director general Francesco La Camera.
La Camera, in his keynote speech, shared that the investment projected to succeed in Malaysia's energy transition effort until 2050 amounts to US$378 billion (RM1.7 trillion), with the majority of the investment amounting to US$183 billion required for efforts to upgrade and increase the elasticity of the electricity supply grid system.