Renewable energy producers in Sabah not 'FiT' yet

RENEWABLE energy (RE) producers in Sabah, who are mostly biomass and
biogas plant operators at palm oil mills, will not enjoy the 32 sen per
kilowatt per hour (kWh) under the feed-in tariff (FiT).

RE
producers in Sabah will only be paid the rates accorded under Tenaga
Nasional Bhd's (TNB) Small Renewable Energy Projects, according to a
statement by Sustainable Energy Development Authority (Seda).


This means oil palm biomass and biogas plant operators there will only
be paid 21 sen per kWh instead of the promised 32 sen per kWh under
FiT.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri
Peter Chin had reportedly said heavy power users in Peninsular Malaysia
and Sabah, who use more than 350kWh or whose monthly bills exceed RM77,
are to start paying the one per cent RE levy this month.





However, Seda, the implementing agency under Chin's ministry, said on
Tuesday TNB will collect the RE levy only from consumers in Peninsular
Malaysia. This is because there has yet to be a gazette to this effect
in Sabah.

The regulator said RE producers in Sabah will only be
eligible for FiT when the one per cent RE levy is collected by Sabah
Electricity Sdn Bhd, a 70 per cent-subsidiary of TNB, from heavy power
users in Sabah.

Sarawak, however, is exempted from the RE levy
because under the Renewable Energy Act 2010, the FiT is only applicable
to Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.

FiT essentially guarantees RE
producers a premium selling price over that generated from depleting and
finite sources such as oil, gas and coal.

Power generated from
sustainable sources that benefits from FiT includes that of oil palm
biomass, biogas, small hydro and solar.

Meanwhile, RE producers
will not automatically receive payment under the FiT from December this
year. This is because RE producers need to go online and bid for the
quota and the relevant FiT rate.

The FiT rate differs for varying RE technologies and installed capacities.

RE producers have to apply for licence from Seda via [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Online application is meant to facilitate quota allocation on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Within a week of bidding, Seda announced that applications for the FiT
allocation under the categories of biomass and solar projects were fully
taken up.

Yesterday, it clarified that some of these
applications were incomplete and disqualified. Therefore, the portion of
FiT allocation applied for will be released for online bidding again
today, at 10am.

Seda has limited individual solar energy
producers to 12kWh each. Multiple applications for the same installed
site is also not allowed.

The new measures are meant to
encourage more people to install solar panels on their roof tops and
sell back excess energy to TNB.