Green energy programmes in Malaysia are set to generate at least 20,000 jobs and investments worth RM12 billion to the economy. Deputy Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Ali Biju said these programmes include the large-scale solar, feed-in tariff, self-consumption, and net energy metering programmes which will help Malaysia achieve its goal of having 31% of renewable energy (RE) in its installed capacity in 2025, followed by 40% in 2035.
He noted that the installed capacity for renewal energy in Malaysia is 7,995MW, equivalent to 22.5% of the country’s total power mix with hydro (including large and mini hydro) contributing 5,863.9MW, solar 1,368.9MW, biomass 637.6MW and biogas 124.3MW. “With the new RE targets set by the government, Malaysian power sector’s carbon intensity is expected to be reduced by 45% in 2025 and 65% in 2035 compared to the intensity in 2005,” he said. Datuk Ali pointed out that energy sustainability was founded upon striking a balance among ensuring energy supply security, environmental sustainability, and more importantly, accessibility to the people.
Datuk Ali also noted that Malaysia’s aspiration to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions target earliest by 2050, pending the completion of its long-term low emissions development strategy by 2022, appears to be the most ambitious in Southeast Asia. He said this is compared to net zero targets from countries like Indonesia by 2060, Thailand by 2065 to 2070, and Singapore “as soon as viable” in the second half of the century. “It is heartening to see that more and more Malaysian corporations are aligning their business operations with greater environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments.
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