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Kota Kinabalu: Members of Sabah Young Business and Industry Leaders (Sybil) are urged to seriously consider venturing into renewable energy business in Sabah.

The energy sector is currently hindered by various challenges and barriers arising mainly from high System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) levels with heavy reliance on fossil fuels and subsidy for electricity tariff as well as insufficient infrastructure to expand the energy accessibility.

“This will be addressed by the Sabah Energy Roadmap and Master Plan 2040,” said Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS) Asst Director of Strategic Planning, Wilfred Linggu.

He said Sabah has 7 key targets which include improving the State’s SAIDI level, enhancing energy mix diversification, achieving 100 per cent rural electrification, realising subsidy rationalisation plan, increasing share of renewable energy in the generation mix as well as achieving low carbon aspiration and carbon neutrality by 2050.

“Submit your green energy generation proposals to ECoS,” he said at the Sybil Industry Networking and Workshop event recently. It was attended by some 100 participants.

ECoS was set up in 2023 with its office at Plaza Shell to take over the role of the Federal Energy Commission of Malaysia in Sabah from 2024.

“Solar PV, wind, wave, geothermal, biomass, biogas and hydroelectricity have great potential to be harnessed for clean, renewable sources of energy in Sabah other than using petroleum diesel fuel and gas for power generation which is a finite resource that would be exhausted in future.”

“Currently ECoS has some 80 staff. ECoS is also now responsible for issuing licences to chargemen and other competent professionals as a regulatory body for the energy in Sabah,” he said.

To a question by Daily Express on Sabah’s aborted geothermal project in Tawau, Linggu said ECoS is evaluating other proposals as the potential is still there to be harnessed.

The previous prospector firm did not want to continue drilling for viable heat sources as it had exhausted its exploration budget and was not willing to sink more financial resources into the geothermal project.

The project, during the BN administration of former Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman, became a controversy when a large area of virgin forest containing Belian was filled with nothing to show.

To another question, Linggu acknowledged that many oil palm mills and plantations are not connected to the main electricity grid. 

He said ECoS is working on how to connect these remote or isolated establishments generating their own power to the main grid with the necessary funds for the connecting cables in future.

Linggu said the Sabah Biomass Policy would expand the biomass industry, given its benefits to green energy and related downstream industries as many are now transitioning or in the process of adapting green technology or green energy as biomass plays a role in the production of bio-pellets and bio-fuels.

The coconut industry also has its own biomass resources that are geared towards production of high valued activated carbon material.

“POIC is designated as a biomass collection centre” he said to manage and create a consistent supply of biomass raw materials or feedstock so that regulatory power for this industry falls under the State Government to benefit green energy generation from the palm oil industry.

Palm oil biomass includes empty fruit bunch (EFB), mesocarp fiber (MF), palm kernel shell (PKS), oil palm trunk (OPT), oil palm frond (OPF) and palm oil mill effluent (pome). 

Biogas is produced naturally when pome is organically decomposed and this provides many benefits to the environment as burning biogas is cleaner with lower amounts of sulfur and particulate matter as well as no hazardous emissions.   

Linggu said all petroleum natural gas that is landed in Sabah from offshore wells comes under the jurisdiction of ECoS as the energy sector is important for the economic development of Sabah.

The sector, specifically, the natural gas, has been a major source of fiscal income for the State whilst creating skilled job opportunities for the people, driving Sabah’s socioeconomic development over the years.