Malaysia To Introduce Feed-In Tariff For Renewable Energy In 2011

KUCHING, July 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will implement the feed-in tariff (FIT) for renewable energy to enable users to sell excess power to the power grid as early as next year, said Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui.

He said the Renewable Energy Act, which will introduce the FIT mechanism, is expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat by year-end.

"The FIT is a mechanism that is tried and tested in many advanced countries, notably Germany, as a way to encourage people to use renewable energy such as solar, biomas or wind.

"With the FIT, it will be easier for everyone, whether individual consumers or companies to generate renewable energy and sell their excess power back to Tenaga Nasional Berhad or regional utility companies such as Sarawak Electricity Supply Corporation and Sabah Electricity Board," he told reporters after the launch of "Green Technology Roadshow 2010" by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan here Thursday.

Chin said he believed the incentives to sell excess power derived from renewable energy sources to the grid would encourage more people to adopt renewable energy sources.

"I'm quite sure, like in Germany and many other countries, when there is FIT, the solar panel installation and usage will go up. A lot of usage could bring the price of solar panels down," he said.

Chin said the cost to install solar panels to generate 1KW of power for homes is RM25,000 and the average usage of a detached house is about 2kW.

"With FIT, it is a small step towards greening of this country. Based on the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change, we are not doing that good. Our carbon emission rate is among the highest in the world," he said.

Earlier, in his speech, Chin said the government planned various programmes to promote the application and development of green technology including the establishment of Green Technology Financing Scheme amounting to RM1.5 billion.

He said the scheme launched in January is to attract the private sector, especially the SMEs, to participate in green technology entrepreneurship.

* The Malaysian government aims at raising renewable energy contribution to the electricity generation mix to 6 percent, or 985 megawatt in 2015, and 11 percent or 2,080 megawatt in 2020.
On the other side, Thailand is 20 percent by 2020, which is more aggressive than Malaysia.