Powering Malaysia – Addressing the Demand for Energy

AMCHAM was honored to feature Amos J. Hochstein, U.S. Special Envoy to Bureau of Energy Resources on his official visit to Malaysia at our new Energy Forum: Powering Malaysia – Addressing the Demand for Energy. The transformational change around the world in the energy landscape is shifting energy policy priorities in the U.S., the role of the Energy Bureau plays an integral interconnection of foreign ministry and energy policy.

The decline in oil prices and technological innovation saw an increase of investment renewable energy, and has proven that renewable energy is able to coexist with and conventional energy sources. As the future demand of energy will be led by the Asian countries, non-OECD countries, electrification accounts for the highest demand growth and the major challenges are for the industry players to keep up with the current state of play. Amos pointed out that in evaluating the future cost of energy source, it is important to consider its full life-cycle, health cost, environmental and clean-up cost.

As Malaysia is diversifying from conventional energy, these are opportunities to leverage latest technology for better cost, health and climate for the future generation.

Ir. Akmal Rahimi Abu Samah, Chief Operating Officer of Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) provided an overview of SEDA’s role of renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) in Malaysia. Apart from Feed-in-Tariff initiative, SEDA is also implementing the large scale solar and net energy metering project as part of the 11th Malaysia Plan.

Currently there are 4 renewable energy sources qualified for FiT scheme such as Biomass, Biogas, Solar, and Small Hydro. SEDA is also exploring additional RE potential such as wind and geothermal energy. While acknowledging some of the challenges of implementing RE projects, the new RE roadmap and policy will be drafted to replace NREPAP to chart future growth of RE as important energy source for Malaysia to support the power demand of 20GW.
The session continues with a panel discussion featuring Ir. Akmal from SEDA, Ismail bin Haji Abd Rahman, Sr. General Manager from Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Dato’ P’ng Soo Hong, Managing Director of First Solar Malaysia, Azli Mohamed, Chief Operating Officer of GE Malaysia and the session was moderated by Lee Yuien Siang, Executive Director of PwC.
The panel discussed on the potential of setting a greater ambition for renewable energy in Malaysia and its requirement from policy, technical capabilities as well as its impact on cost of electricity to consumers. As the storage technology development is not as efficient, it is best to use the solar energy directly or through a hybrid system to improve access to electricity in rural areas.

Cross-country energy interconnectivity, usage of industrial technology and market deregulation best practices was discussed on its impact on capacity development and energy security. Malaysia will be implementing its Power Development Plan for 2025, chaired by the Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water which assessed learning in new markets, financing structure, role of Government’s subsidy and regulatory framework to support the increasing demand for energy sustainability in Malaysia.

For further information, please email [email protected].
For sponsoring and speaking opportunities at AMCHAM events, please email [email protected].