KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — Malaysia is expected to attract direct investments of about RM637 billion in renewable energy (RE) and green technology, in addition to creating 310,000 jobs by 2050, according to the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry.
Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the government has set the minimum local ownership equity rate in all RE projects to 51 per cent.
He said this is to ensure high-skill jobs and technology transfer to local workers.
“This includes the implementation of the Large-Scale Solar Programme, Feed-in Tariff Programme, Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) Programme and the Community Renewable Energy Aggregation Mechanism Programme,” he said in a written reply to a question from Datuk Abdul Khalib Abdullah (PN-Rompin) in Dewan Rakyat.
Khalib wanted to know the ministry’s plans to attract foreign direct investment in the green technology and circular economy sectors related to energy and water, as well as the expected impact on the creation of high-skill jobs and technology transfer to the local workforce.
Fadillah said the government would focus efforts on strengthening existing RE initiatives to provide certainty, incentives and wider green electricity supply options to industry players so that it would be an attractive factor for investors to invest in the country’s RE industry value chain.
He said among efforts that would be continued include strengthening the implementation of the Large-Scale Solar Programme as one of the main solar generation programmes to attract investments in the RE sector with minimal tariff increase implications for electricity consumers.
“The government will also continue to implement the feed-in tariff mechanism and the Low-Carbon Energy Generation Programme as a specific programme to attract investments in the field of generation from non-solar sources.
“The ministry will streamline the implementation of CRESS to enable companies investing in the country to obtain green electricity supplies from selected RE generators directly, in addition to utility companies to fulfill environmental, social and governance commitments as well as continue to provide tax incentives, Green Investment Tax Allowance and Green Income Tax Exemption,” Fadillah added.
