GE: Investment hinges on govt policy
KUALA LUMPUR: General Electric Co (GE) is awaiting for more clarity on the country’s energy sector before proceeding with further investments here.
GE Steam Power commercial general manager Dr Sacha Parneix said the company was ready to provide solutions as needed by energy players but would need more clarity on the sector’s future direction.
“Yes, (we are adopting) a waitand-see approach. As a technology provider, we will provide the ministry or utility company with the information on the best technology available for them to make the proper choice.
“We are fuel-agnostic and not biased as we are not in the interest of pushing one technology instead of the other.
“We have met with a few key stakeholders a few months ago to discuss the best available technology in steam as well as to get information on gas and renewables for the government to decide on what would be the right choice for the country,” he told NST Business last week.
Parneix said GE also met with officials of the Energy Commission and some of industry players, including independent power producers (IPPs).
Recently, Energy, Green Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said IPP agreements approved by the previous administration were under review.
Four agreements were said to have be scrapped pending further decision on the matter.
Yeo had also pushed for an increase in the contribution of renewable energy, excluding from hydro power, from two to 20 per cent in the medium term.
Yeo did not disclose the four IPP deals that were scrapped recently, but GE said none of the parties involved were its clients and that the deals did not have any cost implication to the government.
Parneix said the renewable energy push would lead to new challenges for utilities, while creating instability at the grid management level due to power intermittency.
“Any decision on power is not solely driven by technology as other factors such as geopolitical, economic and environmental are also part of the equation,” he said.
Malaysia’s total capacity is about 37 gigawatts (GW) and is expected to grow to 53GW over the next 10 years.
At present, coal and natural gas accounts for about 50:50 ratio in the national power generation mix, while only one to two per cent is generated by hydro and solar.