Malaysia planning energy exchange to enable sale of green power to neighbours

KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad today said the country will establish an exchange mechanism to facilitate the export of renewable energy to neighbouring countries.

He said work on the exchange was still at a preliminary stage with the Energy Commission, but details of the initiative would be presented to the government this year.

“We will look at some of the available models and among the goals is to first secure enough RE to supply in the country and then ensure we get the best value for sales abroad and allow that value to be reinvested to boost the RE sector in Malaysia,” he said at the Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd’s (MIDF) dialogue session on navigating the energy transition here today.

He said that aside from expanding renewable energy, the country should also consider mini-scale hydropower as a viable option.

“In the peninsula where our forest is quite fragmented, we should not look at large-scale hydro. Large-scale hydro is quite problematic for us to do because the trade-offs are just too large,” he said, adding that the Hydrogen Economy and Technology Roadmap, overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation is nearing completion.

To support the integration of renewable energy into the grid and ensure competitive pricing, he also emphasised the need for battery storage systems as these would play a pivotal role in stabilising the grid and enabling lower renewable energy prices.

Discussing the possible implementation of a carbon tax here, he clarified that this would require comprehensive tax reforms to be in place first.

“In terms of the carbon tax, the Ministry of Finance is taking the lead in that. I believe that eventually when we talk about achieving a net-zero carbon emission target by 2050, the tax has to play a role because there will be a price to pay for carbon,” he said.

In May, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli announced that Malaysia was lifting its ban on trading renewable energy to accelerate the country’s move towards sustainable and more environmentally friendly power.