KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — The government is striving to advance the electricity grid infrastructure nationwide to ensure it can accommodate higher capacities of renewable energy (RE) input by 2050, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

Fadillah, who is also the minister of energy transition and water transformation, stated that the adoption of cutting-edge technologies, including energy storage and the digitalisation of smarter grid control systems, needs to be undertaken to support the intermittent nature of RE inputs such as solar energy.

He noted that this effort will be implemented in stages from this year until 2050, with a total investment value required to enhance the capacity of the electricity grid infrastructure at approximately RM184 billion.

"This effort will enable the provision of grid infrastructure facilities that are in line with the government’s energy transition aspirations to promote the use of RE and to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels in the energy sector,” he said.

He said this when winding up debate on the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address for his ministry in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Meanwhile, Fadillah stated that the government, through relevant agencies such as the National Water Services Commission (SPAN), will coordinate the delivery of water assistance using tanker trucks to states facing water supply shortages.

"This is in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation Between Water Operators in Addressing Water Supply Crises, signed on May 17, 2022,” he said.

At the same time, he said that coordination between state governments and relevant agencies to initiate cloud seeding assistance is also being carried out to help increase water levels in dams, which serve as raw water sources for water treatment plants in affected states. — Bernama