KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli today launched a national plan to turn Putrajaya’s green energy target into one that would allow vanguard industries to create high-paying jobs, raise living standards and make Malaysia a regional and global exporting powerhouse of renewable energy technology.
Under the National Energy Transition Roadmap, the Anwar government would facilitate and pour investments into 10 catalyst projects that it believes would boost the oil-exporting South-east Asian nation’s position as a world giant in alternative energy sector, as it shifts away from fossil fuel reliance.
Among the projects are plans to develop renewable energy products, as well as hydrogen-power and carbon-capture capabilities, with an estimated RM620 billion in funding required to meet the targets.
“The launch of the NETR marks that important change in our thinking. It is not only a document that contains interim measures to meet our Net-Zero target. But it is a combination of strategies and initiatives that could transform our economy, livelihoods, and our place in the world,” Rafizi said at the launch here.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is looking to renewable energy as one of the pivotal industries that would help the country achieve high-income status, a target that has eluded past governments.
The third largest Southeast Asian economy has a sizable pool of skilled workers, with university graduates numbering in the hundreds of thousands annually but the rate of salaries has not kept up. Until this day, degree holders are still offered a starting salary of between RM2,500 to RM3,500, the same rate from over a decade ago.
Rafizi said the NETR is set to tap into Malaysia's existing expertise and its pool of skilled workers where many already working in industries crucial to the green energy ecosystem like semiconductor manufacturing and electrical and electronics.
The 10 flagship projects unveiled under the first phase of the roadmap are expected to generate investments worth RM25 billion and create up to 23,000 skilled jobs, the minister said. It is also expected to cut the country's greenhouse emissions by 10,000 Gg Co2 per year.
One of these projects is the integrated RE Zone that will be championed by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the sovereign wealth fund, and carried out through a joint venture between UEM and ITRAMAS. That Memorandum of Understanding will be inked today.
"At 1 GW, this hybrid solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant is the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia. The scale of our ambition has attracted high-profile global investments from major economic blocs totalling RM6 billion," Rafizi said.
The Anwar government has set a target of at least 70 per cent application in renewable energy use.
Between 2016 and 2020, annual average energy investment in Southeast Asia was around USD70 billion (around RM316 billion in today's exchange), of which around 40 per cent went to clean energy technologies, mostly solar PV, wind and grids, according to data from the International Energy Agency.
Growth in renewable energy has grown rapidly since. In Malaysia, the solar panel industry experienced significant growth and was considered one of the emerging markets in the renewable energy sector.
