Malaysia unveils details of energy transition roadmap

Malaysia on 29 August launched a detailed national energy transition roadmap (NETR), which sets out initiatives the government will undertake to achieve its 2050 net zero target.

The government launched the first phase of the NETR on 27 July comprising six energy transition levers — renewable energy, hydrogen, bioenergy, green mobility, energy efficiency and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).

The latest version of the roadmap states that the government will also launch a national energy transition facility (NETF), with 2bn ringgit ($431mn) allocated as the initial seed fund. Projects under the NETR are expected to attract investments of more than 25bn ringgit and reduce emissions by more than 10mn t/yr of CO2 equivalent (CO2e). The NETR also aims to set up a national committee on energy transition to strengthen cross-sector collaboration in energy policy planning.

The NETR sees Malaysia achieving 70pc installed renewable energy capacity by 2050, mainly made up of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity. The share of coal-fired power generation is targeted to fall to zero in 2050 from around 26pc currently, and no new coal-fired power generation will be developed.

Transportation is a significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emission contributor in Malaysia, with the land transport sector accounting for 55mn t/yr of CO2e. The government hence intends to adopt more green mobility practices and technologies across various transport sectors such as light and heavy land vehicles, aviation and marine transport. It aims for electric vehicles (EVs) to make up 80pc of the vehicle fleet by 2040, and targets local EV manufacturing capabilities to make up 90pc of local EV manufacturing. It also intends to introduce a blending mandate of up to 47pc sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2050.

The government aims to enhance overall energy efficiency to lower energy intensity and reduce CO2 emissions, to improve "all dimensions of the energy trilemma by reducing demand to improve energy security, lowering costs for users to enhance energy equity and minimising emissions from energy production to elevate environment sustainability", the roadmap states.

Malaysia is also considering the potential of green hydrogen. The NETR aims to establish one low-carbon hydrogen hub by 2030, and an additional two hubs by 2050. It also aims to produce up to 2.5mn t/yr of green hydrogen by 2050 from renewable energy sources such as hydroelectric and solar.

Malaysia is additionally targeting the development of three CCUS hubs by 2030, with two in peninsular Malaysia and one in Sarawak, with a total storage capacity of up to 15mn t/yr. It also aims to add a further three carbon capture hubs by 2050, with a total storage capacity between 40mn-80mn t/yr.

The NETR estimates that Malaysia will require an investment of 1.2 trillion-1.3 trillion ringgit by 2050 to achieve its energy transition goals.

By Prethika Nair