Turn to Renewable Energy or start paying higher electricity bill!

Feed in Tariff (FIT) essentially means that once you install any type of renewable energy (RE) source to power up your home you are also able to sell back to the national grid and make money out of it (hmmm sounds too good to be true...so what is the catch for consumer like you and me?). Because generating electricity from RE will be relatively costly due to the current low economies of scale, the cost will be passed back to all of us, especially to the Non RE users.   

There are more serious questions that the public should be aware of before deciding to embark on this renewable energy journey. Would we be able to get the answers from the authority on the following matter:

1- On average, how much CO2 reduction per household will be achieved from converting to RE sources?

2- How much will an average household gain from selling the electricity they have in excess?

3- What will be the payback period for the investment to install the RE source?

4- Will there be push back from the Independent Power Producer (IPP) who stand to lose from the FIT implementation?


5-  How much and by when will we see another hike in the electricity bill?


Last but not least, SD predicts for question #5, Malaysia will probably see the next electricity increase to happen around second half of 2011 with possible increase from 5 to 8 % jump from current rate. 

Source: http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/20101020160207/Article/

Renewable Energy Act in effect by H1 2011

The bill on the Renewable Energy Act is expected to be tabled in Parliament before year-end, with the Act coming into force by June next year.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry's Undersecretary of the Sustainable Energy Division, Badriyah Abdul Malek, said the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) mechanism is therefore expected to be implemented at the same time.

FiT is a mechanism that allows electricity produced from indigenous renewable energy resources to be sold to power utilities at a fixed premium price and for specific duration.

"The bill is now completed and submitted to the Attorney-General. So we expect the bill to be tabled for first reading between the October and December session," she told reporters after the Investment Opportunities in Renewable Energy Seminar and Dialogue with Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok in Kota Kinabalu today.

"At the same time, we will also table the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) Bill, which is to institute the establishment of SEDA Malaysia, the authority to spearhead renewable energy development in Malaysia," Badriyah said.

"We expect the second and third reading in March, and the Act enforced probably in May or June next year, so the FiT will also come on board in May or June 2011," she said.

In response to a question, Badriyah said that for Sabah, it had been estimated that more than 100 megawatts of electricity could be obtained from variable sources such as biomass, biogas and also solar energy.

Concerning the dialogue, Dompok said majority of the 70 participants present from the palm oil industry were waiting for implementation of the Act to see the tariff revised, as the present tariff of 21 sen per unit was considered low.

"That's the general view. The government, of course, will be prepared to look at the increase. But in this area, I am not going to say much more than that because the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry will make the necessary announcement," he said.

Dompok said the outcome of today's dialogue also recognised that the oil palm industry could not replace the electricity production from Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd but it was important to look into renewable energy opportunities to meet the challenges of electricity supply in the state. -- Bernama