My parliamentary colleagues Tony Pua, MP for PJ Utara, Nurul Izzah, MP for Lembah Pantai and myself commended the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) for conducting its first open ballot for the Solar Power Feed In Tariff (FiT) quota for non-individual applicants with <425 kW capacity. This open ballot was conducted transparently and satisfied the demands of all those who put in bids for the quota, including those who did not manage to obtain a quota. SEDA is to be commended for conducting another open ballot on the 9th of March, 2015, for 20MW of the solar PV quota of up to 425 kW.[1]
To continue to uphold the highest standards of transparency, SEDA must also be equally transparent with the allocation of 32 MW for the solar PV quota capacity above 425 kW and up to 1 MW. SEDA has already published the Merit Points Criteria which includes the track record of the service provider, the ability of the shareholder to finance the project and the distance to the connection point.[2] The awarding of this 32 MW of the solar PV quota will be done based on the merit points obtained by each applicant and SEDA has promised to publish the merit points of all applicants on its website and to conduct an open ballot in the case of a tie.
SEDA must fulfil these promises in order to increase the transparency of the awarding of the solar PV quota. In 2014, 10MW for the solar PV quota capacity above 425 kW and up to 1MW were awarded based on merit points but the detailed results were never published online or publicly disclosed. The system which SEDA has proposed which includes the online publication of the results is an improvement on the process used in 2014. In the interest of transparency, I note that SEDA has also published the names of all 146 companies which submitted applications for the soar PV quota capacity above 425 kW and up to 1 MW.[3]
The Feed In Tariff (FiT) is funded by the Malaysian consumer who have to pay 1.6% of their total electricity bill as their contribution to the Renewable Energy (RE) fund. In 2013 alone, RM398m was collected from the then 1% additional surcharge imposed on the electricity bill for consumers using more than 300kwH per month. The cumulative amount collected for the RE fund inclusive of interest was RM928m at the end of 2013.[4] These amounts would certainly have increased in 2014 given the increase in the surcharge from 1% to 1.6%. SEDA has the responsibility to ensure the highest standards of responsibility in using the rakyat’s money to promote sustainable energy in the country.