TNB quickens move into renewable energy

Showing commitment: A file photo of TNB workers in front of their headquarters. The utility company is also eyeing overseas acquisitions to meet its RE targets.

PETALING JAYA: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) is accelerating its energy transition initiatives in line with the government’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR).

After meeting with TNB recently, Kenanga Research said it felt assured the company is translating its deep commitment in accelerating energy transition into firm and consistent action, ensuring its goals on renewable energy (RE) growth and emissions reduction are within reach, in line with NETR targets.

The two essential targets of the NETR are to have a 70% RE installed capacity share of 55 gigawatts (GW) by 2050, and no new coal power plants.

TNB’s Sustainability Pathway 2050 (SP2050), developed in 2021, set three key targets.

The first is to increase RE capacity to 8,300 megawatts (MW) by 2025, the second is to reduce emissions intensity by 35% by 2035 and net-zero emissions by 2050, and the third is to reduce coal capacity by 50% by 2035 and 100% by 2050.

In financial year 2022 (FY22), the power utility managed to raise its RE capacity to 3,780MW, representing 46% of FY25’s target.

As of June 2023, it achieved 48% of the 8.3GW target, exceeding the 4GW mark.

“While acknowledging the substantial gap, TNB is confident of reaching the target with a steady pipeline of RE projects coming on stream and potential acquisitions of RE assets overseas via its New Energy Division with Vantage RE focusing on British and European markets and TNB Renewables on the domestic and South-East Asian markets,” the research house said.

In a move to further spur investments and accelerate the development of more RE assets, the company plans to start the trading of renewable energy certificates via TNBX’s Green Attribute Tracking System by the first quarter of next year.

Among others, TNB has set a 35% reduction target in greenhouse gas emission intensity (Scope 1 & 2) by 2035 and net-zero by 2050 against the 2020 baseline.

Its commitment to being net-zero by 2050 is further strengthened by initiatives in new technologies such as carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) and co-firing with hydrogen, ammonia and biomass.

Feasibility studies of coal plants co-firing with hydrogen, ammonia, biomass and coal are ongoing for Jimah East Power (2,000MW), KEV (2,200MW) and Janamanjung (4,080MW) in collaboration with Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Mitsui & Co and Chugoku.

Strengthening the grid and expanding interconnections within Asean is pivotal to Malaysia’s energy security as well as the region’s decarbonisation, it said.

To this end, TNB has formed two strategic partnerships with Indonesia and Singapore to intensify efforts towards a seamless Asean Power Grid.

The company plans to invest over RM90bil over the next six years for its grid infrastructure, allocating 40% of it on energy transition-related capital expenditure to enhance its network readiness and reliability.

Kenanga said following the meeting with TNB, it has upgraded TNB’s environmental, social, and governance rating to three stars from two stars previously.