Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said Germany's feed-in tariff model was worth emulating. — File pic
"How far can we go with solar energy? We're leaving all this sunlight to waste, despite having double the solar radiation levels of Germany's," the Penang Chief Minister said at the installation of Bosch Malaysia's photovoltaic (PV) project at its manufacturing plant here.
He noted that the country was looking to have over 3,000 megawatts (MW) of green energy on the national grid by 2020 and the federal government had introduced a new policy last December to develop more independent power producers (IPPs), including households, provide them.
But the present quota policy limiting energy producers to a RM300 million on a first-come-first-serve basis to each of the four renewable energy sources, was not very efficient, he said.
He noted an overwhelming response to solar energy, out of the four sources of alternative energy — bio-mass (including from solid waste); bio-gas (including from landfills); hydro and solar photovoltaic (PV) technology — eligible for FIT.
He pointed out that SEDA had invited the public, including households, and small-time IPPs who contributed up to 30 MW, although it was limited to 5MW in solar PVs, to apply and book the amount of renewable energy intended for the national grid.
Germany's FIT model was open-ended, Lim noted, adding that its prices were four-times Malaysia's prices and were guaranteed for 20 years.
"The Germans' feed-in tariff model has been increasingly adopted and implemented in countries around the world.
"This has resulted in the evolution of the solar sector, resulting in the development of strong distribution networks with well-trained installers and excellent customer support capabilities," the CM said.
Lim urged SEDA to follow the German example or at least increase its quota so that Malaysians could gain from becoming small-time IPPs and ensure that the most efficient source of renewable energy is chosen.
