Energy Exchange aims to support RE industry

Nik Nazmi said the initiative will be a mechanism for Malaysia to export its renewable energy o neighbouring countries.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Energy Commission is in the midst of preparing a paper on Energy Exchange that will be launched this year, says Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

He said this initiative will be a mechanism for Malaysia to export its renewable energy (RE) to neighbouring countries.

“The paper is being prepared and will be presented to the government for approval but we are looking at it being done this year,” he said during the Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) Roundtable Discussion yesterday.

According to Nik Nazmi, the paper will look at the current model and aim towards achieving three main objectives.

“The main goal of course is to ensure that Malaysia has enough RE for its own use.

“Then we will review how we can get the best possible rates when we sell this energy to other countries. We also want to ensure that the revenue from those sales will be used as investment to boost the RE sector,” he said.

He added that the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) will be launched next week, while the Hydrogen Economy and the Technology Roadmap (HETR) will have its framework ready sometime this year.

“What I can tell you about the NETR is that my vision for future developments in the power sector has been integrated into it.

“Hopefully, it will chart our course towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy,” he said.

“I do think that our focus should not be just on the speed of the energy transition but also achieving its goals equitably and effectively.”

Speaking on other sources that can generate electricity, Nik Nazmi said Sarawak has done very well in terms of hydrogen so that is something the ministry will pursue.

“As we all know, Malaysia is rich with forests but it is becoming increasingly fragmented.

“So we should not look at large-scale hydro. Whatever has been approved in the past will be fine, but moving forward, we can look at mini hydro instead. This is to preserve our forests and the ecosystem around it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nik Nazmi said while the government recognises the role that can be played by small modular reactors (SMRs), in Malaysia, many research facilities had been closed down.

“For now, we haven’t changed our stance of not using nuclear power as an energy source.

“While it is promising in many ways and SMRs are very different to the big ones like Chernobyl, there is also the part of convincing the public that we have not done yet. So we’re not exploring nuclear anytime soon.”