New MPIA committee to lead the local solar PV industry
KUCHING: The Malaysian Photovoltaic Industry Association (MPIA) held its first committee meeting after its 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM), with the new line-up leading MPIA and the local solar photovoltaic (PV) industry for the next two years.
MPIA is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of solar energy and consists of members from the local solar supply chain, including manufacturers, service providers, system integrators, consultants, insurance providers, legal professionals, training providers and academicians.
MPIA bridges communication among the stakeholders and has been working with the government to ensure the efficient, ethical and professional growth of solar industry. It is currently the only trade association representing the solar PV industry in Malaysia.
MPIA president Davis Chong expressed appreciation to his predecessor Chin Soo Mau and other past committee members for their contribution to the industry.
According to Chong, Malaysian solar PV industry has progressed significantly between the introduction of Feed-in Tariff (FiT) in 2011 and the third Net Energy Metering (NEM 3.0) era today.
“In 2019, total installed solar PV capacity in Malaysia surpassed the 1,000MW mark, compared to less than 200MW five years before that,” he said in a statement.
“Such a capacity can help our country to reduce 600,000 tonnes of coal burning annually, amounting to RM200 million saving, based on average Indonesian benchmark coal price of USD78 per tonne in 2019.”
Chong said despite the pandemic, movement controls and slowdown in economic activities, the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) approved more than 350MW projects under NEM in 2020, the highest in a year since NEM was introduced in 2016, indicating a strong interest to invest in solar PV systems.
“Many businesses are now deploying solar PV systems as part of their measures to reduce the cost of doing business, as it gives them significant saving in energy bills.
In addition, it is very positive to their corporate image, with some companies able to sell their products or services at a premium over their peers.”
Chong said SEDA revealed that there were close to 4,000 completed NEM installations towards the end of last year, and entire 500MW NEM quota was fully taken in last year before it reached the December deadline; subsequently, a further 500MW quota under NEM 3.0 was announced.
The application of NEM 3.0 for residential and governmental sectors was opened from Feb 1 while application for the commercial and industrial sectors from the first of this month.
“In the first week of April, we had already seen submission of more than 100MW applications from the commercial and industrial sectors. We are not surprised if the entire 300MW allocated for the commercial and industrial sectors are fully taken by the middle of this year.
“We look forward to more allocation from the government after the full uptake,” Chong told.
He said on the other hand, the LSS (Large Scale Solar) which has been implemented since 2016 had accumulated more than 850MW operational capacity as of fourth quarter last year, based on the Energy Commission’s data.
“There are more than 2,400MW of LSS projects awarded so far, including the 823MW in LSS4 awarded recently. In other words, we are seeing very positive growth in both the rooftop segment and LSS segment of our solar PV industry.
“All this will translate into a significant milestone for Malaysia in terms of sustainability and renewable energy accomplishment,” said Chong.