Photo taken at the SEDA Malaysia Office during the final Board Meeting held on 10.03.2020

Press Statement
17th April 2020

I received the letter of termination as the SEDA Chairman from the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources’ office yesterday. The termination didn’t come as a surprise and I must “applaud” the “efficiency” shown by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government through its various Ministries, as they can still be busy ensuring all their appointments are in place even though the whole nation is fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic.

I would like to thank all members of the Authority and the management team of SEDA led by the Chief Executive Office for giving me full support, cooperation, and guidance during my tenure as the Chairman. I would also like to thank the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Government for trusting me to lead SEDA Malaysia.

MESTECC and SEDA under the PH Government had strengthened the growth of renewable energy in Malaysia with notable reforms – enhancing the efficiency, transparency, and competitiveness of the system amongst others. I believe we have set the nation on the right path towards the transition to a cleaner future for energy.

NEM 2.0

The PH Government and MESTECC upgraded the NEM programme by adopting the true Net Energy Metering concept, which allows excess solar PV generated energy to be exported back to the grid on a “one-on-one” offset basis. This has managed to reduce the period for Return of Investment (ROI) to a mere 3 years, especially for commercial and industrial installation that have also benefited from the various tax incentives given by the Government.

Solar energy industry has grown tremendously as a result of the implementation of NEM 2.0. In 2019 alone, SEDA approved 94.14MW Quota for NEM, 6.8 times more than the cumulative approved NEM quota from 2016 to 2018.  

E-Bidding

As part of the reform agenda by MESTECC and in order to promote healthier competition in the industry, SEDA Malaysia introduced the e-bidding system for the bidding of Biogas and Small Hydro Quota under the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme.

This has helped with the savings of the Renewable Energy (RE) Fund and paved the way for the availability of more FiT quota. The total savings for the RE Fund for the 2 branches of e-bidding until 2019 is estimated at RM535 million throughout the 21-year power purchase agreement period.

Renewable Energy Transition Roadmap (RETR) 2035

In addition, SEDA Malaysia also conducted a study on decarbonising the electricity sector and finalised the nation’s Renewable Energy Transition Roadmap (RETR) 2035 early this year. This roadmap will be an important document to determine the future of the electricity sector in 2035.

Therefore, the new Ministry should ensure that RETR is launched and implemented as it is an effort not just by SEDA Malaysia, but also by respective agencies that include the Energy Commission (EC) and industry players.

The system is set and the paths are clear. There shouldn’t be any discontinuance of reforms and effort if the new Ministry is truly dedicated in bringing the Renewable Energy sector to a new height in Malaysia.

YB Wong Kah Woh
MP for Ipoh Timor