I
go a really long way with SEDA Malaysia; it started back in October 2013 when
bloggers were gathered at Berjaya Times Square Hotels and Resorts on 20th
October for SEDA Malaysia Open Day Bloggers Workshop. It was the first time
that we sat face to face and were given explanation on sustainable energy
measures and energy efficiency effort in Malaysia and how they are being
implemented. We had almost zero knowledge about those things but SEDA Malaysia
officers helped us to disseminate information and how we go about educating the
public about it. I agreed to be a part of this mainly because I am an
environmentalist myself and I feel the need to be responsible to the Mother
Earth. In fact, I would want more people to be in the know and at least they want
to make some changes in daily activities. You can refer to this link for
further information.
Things get more exciting when SEDA
Malaysia invited the bloggers for a field trip to Fortune 11 Solar Farm in
Sepang Selangor. We were given explanation on how solar energy is garnered from
sun rays and how the solar farm works. It was impressive to be on site and to
see with our own eyes the vast area of solar farm that surely benefits the
environment and the company itself. Imagine getting near to those solar PV
panels that we only see on television or the internet and the opportunity to
ask questions for further clarification from the person in-charge. I truly enjoyed the field trip because I
gained beneficial knowledge about solar power and its importance for the
country’s renewable energy growth. You can click this link for further reading.
On the same day, the bloggers were
brought to Negeri Sembilan to visit the Malaysia Palm Oil Mill Technology
Centre (POMTECH) in Labu. We witnessed the development of biogas and biomass
energy resources in order to fully utilize the energy generated from tree
parts, excess fruits or empty fruit branches. What is more impressive was to
see heavy machineries and big lorries carrying those resources to be processed
in the mill in order for renewable energy generation to happen. It gave me an
impression that Malaysia is getting ready to become a modern and developed country
by the year 2020. The visit to the palm oil mill made me feel secure because I
know that the country is no longer depending on fossil fuels and I really hope
that the development will continue. Please go to this link if you want to find
out more about the visit.
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| Source: www.cooltek.org |
On the 18th of January
2014, bloggers were brought to Melaka to visit Stephanie Mary Bacon’s cool
house, COOLTEK Home. The house is a model of an energy efficient residential
building that applies almost all of energy efficient measure and sustainable
energy effort. It is a house that generates electricity and Stephanie has been
making money by selling the energy generated to Tenaga Nasional Berhad. She has
been earning a steady passive income ever since she applies for and implemented
the Feed-in Tariff measurements at her home. It was interesting to learn that
the house is specifically built according to “green” specification whereby the
use of electricity is lesser than conventional houses in Malaysia. The trip to
her house showed me that an energy efficient house does exist and it can happen
if each one of us is willing to take part. You can log on to this link if you
want to find out more about COOLTEK Home.
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| Source: www.auosunpower.com |
Then, we visited AUO Sunpower Sdn.
Bhd. in Alor Gajah Melaka to visit 40 acres of land occupied by world leader of
solar cell manufacturing. The company is one of the biggest supporters of
renewable energy and energy efficiency effort in the country and worldwide with
manufacturing and exportation of solar cells to be assembled as solar panels.
With 2,000 and more job opportunities provided by the company to the locals in
Malaysia, I am surely mesmerized with their concern to the economy of the
people working with them and also towards the country. This is what we are
looking for in future; better work opportunities and its beneficial effects to
the surrounding. Please refer to this link if you want to have further reading
okay.
The last pit stop was at Kumpulan
Melaka Berhad Solar Farm, the first state government to own and operate its own
solar farm facilities in the country and I can tell you that they are reaping
the benefits. With the large area of solar farm, Melaka is serious about
becoming the first green technology state by the year 2020, leaving most other
states far behind. This is a great effort taken by Chief Minister Incorporated,
the owner of the solar farm to venture into green investments that benefits the
company. You can read more of this solar farm by clicking this link.
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| Source: www.seda.gov.my |
All
of these field trips could not happen without the effort taken by SEDA Malaysia
in providing better dissemination of knowledge to the bloggers. The knowledge
will then be shared to the public for all of you to understand better of SEDA
Malaysia roles and importance in the country. SEDA
Malaysia is the implementer of Feed-in Tariff program for development of
renewable energy in Malaysia.
Malaysia’s Feed-in
Tariff system requires the Distribution Licensees (DLs) such as
TenagaNasionalBerhad and NUR Distribution Sdn. Bhd. (NUR) with this year’s
addition of Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd (SESB) to buy from renewable energy
producers the electricity produced by them. FiT rates are set by SEDA Malaysia
with approval from KeTTHA to pay for the renewable energy supplied to the
electricity grid for a specific duration.
By having access to the
grid and setting a favorable price per unit of renewable energy, the FiT
mechanism also ensures that renewable energy becomes a viable and sound
long-term investment for companies, industries and individuals. This can happen
very easily if consumers are registered under SEDA Malaysia as one of the
producers of renewable energy through solar panels, small hydro power, biomass
and biogas at their homes or private lands.
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| Source: www.seda.gov.my |
The Cabinet has
also agreed for the surcharge on consumers’ electricity bills that has been
gazetted and collected from consumers. 1% surcharge is needed to achieve the
target capacity of renewable energy in the long run. As of 2013, 1% surcharge
was imposed on all electricity customers and domestic electricity consumers are
obliged to contribute to the surcharge only if their monthly electricity consumption
exceeds 300 kWh or RM 77 a month.
This
money is channelled into the Renewable Energy Fund and administered by SEDA
Malaysia to pay the premium Feed-in Tariff rate to those producers who generate
electricity from renewable resources at homes or in industrial companies.
However, as of January 2014, this surcharge increases by 0.6% to be 1.6 % for
current electricity users. This increase will also affect the consumers in
Sabah and Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan as they are charged with 1.6% of their
electricity bills for the first timeRM69.00 above.Please
refer to www.seda.gov.my for more news and information about this
tariff. Thank you everyone for reading, take care and God bless you!
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| Source: www.seda.gov.my |
