Renewable power seen generating RM70b

By DAVID TAN
Thestar Propertyct 1, 2010

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GEORGE TOWN: The renewable power sector is expected to generate an estimated RM70bil in revenue by 2020, following the implementation of the feed-in tariff scheme under the Renewable Energy Law next July.
Malaysia Building Integrated Photovoltaic (MBIPV) project technical advisor Chen Wei-nee told StarBiz that the income tax from the RM70bil generated by renewable power plants would alone account for RM1.75bil. MBIPV is a project administered by the Energy, Green Technology, and Water Ministry.
“By 2020, there will also be some RM19bil of loan values for renewable energy projects, which will provide local banks with new sources of revenues,” she said after a talk on feed-in tariff scheme for solar energy at investPenang here.
There would also be some 52,000 jobs created to construct, operate and maintain renewable energy power plants, she added.
“The savings to reduce carbon dioxide emission will be about RM 2.1bil,” she said. Chen urged households and commercial units to quickly sign up with local power distributors for 21 years once the feed-in tariff scheme under the Renewable Energy Law was implemented next July.

“By signing and commissioning the solar power system in their buildings early, residential and commercial units will be able to obtain an attractive price to sell to local power distributors and buy back at a lower market rate,” she said.
Meanwhile, Gading Kencana Sdn Bhd managing director Guntor Tobeng said the grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the country was expected to grow from 2MW (mega-watt) this year to 11MW in 2011, generating about RM209mil in business opportunities for small-medium entrepreneurs (SMEs), compared with about RM19mil in 2010.
In 2012, the solar power capacity was expected to grow to 22MW, generating RM352mil in business opportunities, according to Guntor.
“These business opportunities are in the supply of modules, system components, and provision of installation services to households and commercial buildings which generate solar energy for their own usage or those connected to the power grid for distribution. The capital barrier to these businesses is also very low, ranging between RM50,000 to RM3mil,” he said.
Guntor said the RM50,000 was applicable for SMEs interested in providing installation services and selling things such as inverters and cables to solar-powered residences and commercial units.
“The RM3mil investment is required for SMEs interested in producing solar modules using imported equipment and cells from US, China, and Taiwan,” he said.
Based in Shah Alam, Gading Kencana is involved a providing consultancy and engineering services for renewable energy used in residential and commercial buildings.
The company has, so far this year, completed RM10mil worth of solar energy projects for rural areas in East Malaysia