KUALA LUMPUR: The 20 per cent target of renewable energy efficiency from the current two per cent may take longer than expected, says Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin.
Speaking to the media after the opening of the Conference of the Electric Power Supply Industry 2018 (CEPSI 2018), Yeo said the government was confident of achieving the 20 per cent true renewable energy efficiency in 12 years.
“Our goal is to achieve the 20 per cent target by 2025, but even if we don’t, I am confident by 2030 we are able to reach true renewable energy efficiency.
“However, I would like to stress on the importance that renewable energy target should not take priority over energy affordability. The affordability and adoption of RE should be balanced and should not be at the expense of the other.
“We are currently carrying out many talks on this at the moment and figuring out how we can get our grid prepared for this. We will make the announcement when the time comes,” she said in response to NSTP query over the feasibility and achievability of the target set for the next seven years.
The Pakatan Harapan government in its election manifesto previously pledged to increase renewable energy from the current two per cent to 20 per cent by 2025 and make renewable energy affordable and accessible in Malaysia.
It also pledged to enforce strict logging quotas to conserve the forest, implement regulations to protect wildlife and marine life, take punitive action against poachers and illegal loggers, and reduce the dependence of coal power plants.
It also pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 40 per cent by 2020.
Asked on the government’s stance on independent power producers (IPPs), Yeo said the government planned to further liberalise the generation of electricity and avoid direct tenderings of IPPs.
“On the generation side, it is already liberalised. What the previous government did not do right was that there was a lot of direct tenders and direct award of IPPs.
“If the award of the IPPs are open tenders and efficient, then our electricity generation is already considered liberalised. What we don’t have right now is rather decentralising of the electricity generation,” she added.
In July, Yeo announced that the government had cancelled four IPP contracts that were awarded under the previous administration while continuing to review the contracts of other IPPs.
She explained that many of the IPPs had been approved through direct negotiation and direct award, and that the government had decided to review the contracts especially the ones that brought no cost implications to the government.