Head start for Sabahans on FiT
Published on: Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Kota Kinabalu: Sabahans will get a head start on the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) scheme, with two megawatts set aside for them under the homeowner scheme. Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said 10MW will come under the individual scheme, namely two MW for Sabahans and those in Labuan and the rest for the peninsula. He said another 3MW is being set aside especially for Sabahans under the Solar PV community scheme that will include schools, mosques and residences.
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This is also the first time the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (Seda) has expanded the FiT to communities and homeowners, whereby they have set the quota at 65MW for 2014. "Of the 65MW quota this year, 10MW for biogas, 15MW for biomass and 40MW for the solar PV," Ongkili said during the official opening of the Seda office, here, Tuesday. Banks would also be able to provide loans to assist applicants to commission their solar panels, with facilities available from Bank Muamalat, Alliance and Seng Heng's Aeon Credit. Furthermore, Sabahans and those from Labuan will also be given a special time frame to submit their applications when it is open for submission this May 2.
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Seda Chief Executive Officer, Datin Badriyah Abd Malek, said from 7am to 2pm the same day, Sabahans can visit the Seda portal and submit their forms. "This is special for Sabahans. We want them to submit their FiT.
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So we hope Sabahans who want to take part in the FiT scheme visit the portal now, download the form and fill it in. When the time comes submit their forms immediately," she said. Badriyah said they will no longer accept any forms beyond that timeline, but they will reopen the application entries after 4pm, this time for the whole of peninsula, Sabah and Labuan. Seda Chairman Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai also said FiT would translate to an additional RM1,000 to RM1,200 income to recipients when they sell the generated power back to the utility firm. Meanwhile, Dr Ongkili said Sabah has a huge potential in generating RE, saying the Ministry's consultants have noted that Sabah would be able to churn up an additional 2,300MW base on its resources. While the power generation is still below par, he said the Ministry is now working with Sirim to harness wind for power generation. "A small station has been set up in Simpang Mengayau in Kudat and now we are still waiting for their report."But based on the present study done by the Meteorological Department, Sabah has three windy spots feasible to set up windmills, namely Kudat, atop Mount Kinabalu and Sipitang," he said. Ongkili added now that the technology is fast improving, windmills are being built without really requiring strong wind to generate power. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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