Phase two of NETR to focus on biomass, waste-to-energy, carbon capture

Phase two of NETR to focus on biomass, waste-to-energy, carbon capture

28 Aug 2023

The government will announce on Tuesday (Aug 29) the extension of the first phase of the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR), known as Phase 2, which will focus on biomass, waste-to-energy usage, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and hydrogen integration, among others.

Energy Commission chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Razib Dawood said the roadmap will be “more than policy” covering across sectors, with discussion on “more actionable items” after the first phase announced in July 27.

“In the second phase of the NETR, we will discuss more actionable items on how to reach the 2050 targets,” he said at the dialogue session on “Forward-thinking Policies and Regulations that Shape the Energy Transition” at the the Energy Transition Conference 2023 on Monday.

He highlighted that the primary challenge in energy transition is to increase the renewable energy (RE) capacity, pointing out that solar projects are currently the only viable option in Malaysia, while other forms of RE are still in their early stages of development.

“We need at least 2.5 gigawatts RE installation per year to achieve 70% of RE in the power mix by 2050. But, first the grid has to be ready to take on these RE projects,” Abdul Razib said.

On CCS and hydrogen, he said that while it is still nascent, it is essential to get the infrastructure ready.

“We have to start somewhere you know, maybe we need a government funding system to begin with. But of course, we aspire to be a hub (hydrogen) for this region.

“And of course, the last is CCS, which Petronas has already started to embark on, but it is still at the nascent stage and also expensive. But, we need to be ready,” he said.

Nonetheless, Abdul Razib stressed that it is important for the country to strike a balance of creating high value jobs in its RE journey.

Phase 1 of the NETR saw six key energy transition levers announced: energy efficiency, RE, hydrogen, bioenergy, green mobility, and carbon capture, utilisation and storage.

Phase 1 of the NETR, which was announced on July 27, saw 10 flagship “catalyst projects and initiatives” introduced which, according to Economy Minister Mohd Rafizi Ramli, could open up energy transition investment opportunities of RM435 billion to RM1.85 trillion by 2050.

Rafizi said for Phase 1 of the NETR, total committed investments stood at RM25 billion, estimated to create 23,000 high-impact, high-quality jobs, and reduce 10,000 gigagrams of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.

Source: The Edge Malaysia