I have received the letter of termination as the SEDA Chairman from the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources’ Office yesterday. The termination never serve as a surprise and I must “applaud” the “efficiency” shown by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) Government, through its various Ministries, as they can still be busying in ensuring all their appointments are in place despite the whole nation is fighting against Covid-19 pandemic.
I would like to thank all members of the Authority, and the management team of SEDA led by the Chief Executive Office for giving me full support, cooperation and guidance during my tenure as the Chairman. I would also like to thank the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Government for rendering its trust on me in leading SEDA Malaysia.
MESTECC and SEDA under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Government had strengthen the growth of Renewable Energy in Malaysia with notable reforms, amongst others in term of enhancing efficiency, transparency and competitiveness, in the system. I believe we have set the nation on the right path towards the transition to a cleaner energy future.
NEM 2.0
The PH Government and MESTECC had upgraded the NEM programme by adopting the true net energy metering concept, which allows excess solar PV generated energy to be exported back to the grid on a “one-on-one” offset basis. This has managed to reduce the period for Return of Investment (ROI) to a mere 3 years especially for commercial and industrial installation which are also benefited from the various tax incentive given by the Government.
Solar energy industry has grown tremendously as a result of the implementation of NEM 2.0. In year 2019 alone, SEDA has approved 94.14MW Quota for NEM, which is 6.8 times more than the cumulated approved NEM quota from 2016 to 2018.
| Year | Approved Quota |
| 2016 | 0.01MW |
| 2017 | 2.33MW |
| 2018 | 11.53MW |
| 2019 | 94.14MW |
| Total | 108MW |
E-Bidding
As part of the reform agenda by MESTECC and in order to promote healthier competition in the industry, SEDA Malaysia introduced the e-bidding system for the bidding for Biogas and Small Hydro Quota under the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme.
This has helped the savings of Renewable Energy Fund and pave way for the availability of more FiT quota. The total savings on the RE Fund for the 2 tranches of e-bidding until 2019 is estimated at RM535 million throughout the 21-year power purchase agreement period.
Renewable Energy Transition Roadmap (RETR) 2035
SEDA Malaysia has also conducted a study on decarbonising the electricity sector and finalised the nation’s Renewable Energy Transition Roadmap (RETR) 2035 early this year. This Roadmap will be an important document to determine the future of the electricity scenarios at 2035.
The new Ministry should ensure that RETR is launched and implemented as it is an effort not only by SEDA Malaysia, but also the respective agencies that includes Energy Commission (EC) and the Industry Players.
The system is set and the paths are clear. There shouldn’t be any discontinuance of the reforms and efforts if the new Ministry is truly dedicated in bringing the Renewable Energy sector to a new height in Malaysia.