KOTA KINABALU: The energy sector has always, and will continue to, play a critical role in Sabah’s future development, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
He said Sabah is endowed with an abundance of renewable energy sources that has the potential to offer strong prospects of contributing significantly to both the state and nation’s transformation into a high value-added economy.
Taking this into consideration, he said the state government has, among others, launched the Sabah Energy Roadmap and Master Plan 2040 (Sabah Energy RAMP 2040), which was aimed at charting the way forward and outlining key priorities for the state energy sector.
“With this in place, Sabah should be able to fully develop its green energy sector with the potential of providing up to 75% of the nation’s green energy supply,” said Hajiji when officiating the Sabah Renewable Energy Conference 2025 (SAREC 2025) here on Thursday (April 24).
Hajiji's speech was delivered by state Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
“The energy sector has been a critical engine of growth for Sabah’s economy over the past decades, contributing significantly to the state’s economy,” Hajiji said.
“It is my aspiration to see Sabah’s energy sector continuing to grow whilst contributing to positive social outcomes to uplift the quality of life of the people,” he said.
He said the state has been aggressively pushing its agenda in encouraging renewable energy and the development of clean energy by implementing programmes that would help promote economic activities and accelerate economic growth to ultimately shape and strengthen Sabah’s renewable energy and green industry sector.
Sabah will continue to develop the necessary infrastructure related to the energy sector, said Hajiji, adding that the state has been steadfast in its pursuit of taking control and managing the state’s energy resources to empower Sabah.
It is also aimed at developing and continuously growing the energy sector more effectively and efficiently,” he said.
He said the state government looked forward to the continued cooperation and support of all stakeholders in driving Sabah towards a greener and more sustainable future.
Earlier, Hajiji said the state government had identified a new economic sector - the Blue Economy - that involves sustainable exploration of Sabah’s incredible marine and coastal resources.
The State Legislative Assembly approved the new Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Enactment 2024 in April last year, paving the way for the development of OTEC as a new source of renewable energy and as one of the initiatives under the Blue Economy.
Speaking about the event, he commended Qhazanah Sabah Berhad and the Malaysian Rating Corporation Bhd for bringing SAREC 2025 to fruition.
“The state government is ready to collaborate with all stakeholders to unite efforts, exchange ideas, and explore solutions,” he said.
In a press conference, Masidi said that OTEC was a very new avenue to venture into, where only a limited number of countries including Japan have started exploring this industry.
“It will take time for it to see some form of fruition because it's a new source of energy and we have a long way to go but we need to start somewhere, somehow,” he said.
“You talk about renewable energy but we can’t just fold our hands and wait, we have to start somewhere somehow,” he stressed.
Also present during the one-day conference were Datuk Ahmad Rizal Dahlia, the chief executive officer of Qhazanah Sabah Bhd, and Malaysian Rating Corporation Bhd group chief executive officer Arshad Mohamed Ismail.
