EPU working to ensure adequate electricity supply for electric vehicles

 

PARLIAMENT | The Economic Planning Unit (EPU) is formulating a national energy policy to ensure the country’s electricity supply can meet the demand of not only electric vehicle (EV) users but also the industrial and household sectors, Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry Azmin Ali said.

He told Parliament that the national energy consumption requirement needed to be given serious attention for the transition to EVs or energy-efficient vehicles (EEVs) to replace internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

“The transition to the EEV and EV industries needs to be made carefully so that the supply of energy is adequate,” Azmin added. “The government encourages the production and installation of EEVs, including electric and hybrid.”

The minister emphasised the need to organise a strategy to attract investments, especially in the installation of components related to the EV industry, in line with the National Investment Aspiration (NIA).

“This is in line with the government-approved NIA in April this year, whereby the priority measures are to attract high-tech and quality investments in order to create jobs for the locals

“In line with the NIA, a company from the Republic of Korea has invested RM4.24 billion in Sabah this year to produce copper foil for the purpose of manufacturing and producing batteries for EV vehicles. This is one of the initial steps that we have successfully implemented,” he said.

Azmin said this in reply to a supplementary question from Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz (PAS-Bachok) on the government’s specific strategy to attract investments in the EV components manufacturing sector and the government’s strategic plan for existing car manufacturers to focus on the development of EV and hybrid vehicles as opposed to the current focus on EEV.

An electric car being charged

In reply to a supplementary question from Choong Shiau Yoon (Independent-Tebrau) on the potential joint-venture partner to develop EVs in Malaysia, Azmin said the success of developing the EV industry needed support not only from government policies but also the private sector for infrastructure development.

“Under the Ministry of Environment and Water, there is an agency called Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Centre which is, together with several private parties, researching and refining for the construction of new infrastructure, including charging stations.

“This is a big challenge so we are looking into this matter and I believe this matter will be put forward in the near future,” he said.

Besides that, Azmin said that during the trade mission to Europe recently, the ministry met with several major vehicle manufacturers that are introducing EV technology and would be the country’s partners in the future.

“One of the companies has decided and announced that it will invest in Gurun, Kedah, in the near future and this will give us the opportunity to be involved in precision engineering and green technology that is widely used at present,” he said.

- Bernama