Expand renewable energy capacity to save on subsidies, govt told

 

The government should increase the country's renewable energy capacity to improve its saving on electricity tariff subsidies, said Simpang Renggam MP Hasni Mohammad.

Aside from being more environmentally friendly, he said renewable energy is much cheaper compared to conventional resources like coal and fossil fuels.

"With the amount of subsidies for electricity tariff increases every year, the government can save by expanding the use of renewable energy among industries and the people.

"Malaysia has allocated some RM14.91 billion just to cover subsidies for electricity tariff. By employing targeted subsidies, the government now can save some RM4.16 billion.

"In this context, if the government's priority is to bring down its expenses through rationalising subsidies, especially for electricity tariff, then expanding the utilisation of renewable energy is the way forward for Malaysia.

"Aside from the effort to maintain electricity tariff for B40 and M40 groups, renewable energy, which is much cheaper and environmentally friendly, has to be among the instruments to cut down government's spending on subsidies in the long run," he said in a statement yesterday.

Hasni (above) also said that many Western countries have started using renewable energy as their main resources, thus replacing their dependency on fossil fuels which are open to geopolitical changes and global market price manipulation.

Should Malaysia change to renewable resources as its main source of energy, he added, the government may be able to save up to US$12 trillion in 2050.

"It would be good if Malaysia can estimate how much it can save by 2050 in terms of subsidy expenses if the government switches from conventional to renewable resources as the country's main source of energy.

"We can then evaluate which option would be more profitable for the country's fiscal."

Renewable sources

Adding further, Hasni, who is a former Johor menteri besar, pointed out Malaysia's target to become a carbon-neutral nation by 2050.

He said estimation puts that Malaysia's carbon dioxide emission would be somewhere around 280 million tonnes in 2050, the majority of which due to its dependency on coal and fossil fuels to generate energy.

"As of now, the amount of energy generated from renewable resources is only at 25 percent, and we are still far away from reaching our target of 40 percent by 2035," he said.

The government recently announced that it will no longer provide electricity subsidies for households with "excessive" power consumption.

In saying this, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the households will have to pay market rates.

However, only those with excessive power consumption will be affected, and not B40 and M40 households.

On Friday, Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan reportedly said granting subsidies to the wealthy is a mistake which needs to be corrected. - Mkini