Kota Kinabalu: No other state in Malaysia is blessed as Sabah in its energy resource mix, comprising geothermal, solar, oil and gas, hydroelectric, biomass, biogas, waves, and wind.
Forum moderator Abdul Qavi Mohammed of McKinsey said this in the session “Positioning Sabah as an attractive landscape for green economy – low-carbon, hydrogen economy – electrification” at the recent Sabah Oil and Gas Conference.
The event was participated by IDS CEO Prof. Datuk Dr Ramzah Dambul, , Adlan B Ahmad, Gentari Head of Business Development and President, Malaysia Gas Association Abdul Aziz Othman, who commended the “amazing combination of potential resources and technology in Sabah energy mix.”
The largest solar PV farm in Malaysia, located in Sabah’s Kudat district was also singled out for mention.
“In terms of wind energy generation, Kudat is also a good location for this development.
“Sabah is the only state which has a viable geothermal energy generation that can be developed.
“Gas is the cleaner fuel in Sabah’s energy mix in the transition to cleaner and greener renewable power generation in the future.”
The audience was told that Sabah can be a powerhouse in Malaysia’s economic growth, if properly managed and exploited sustainably.
“Sabah is one of the largest gas producing states in Malaysia, producing cleaner and cheaper natural gas, and with investment in green technologies towards net zero target power mix, the future is very promising.
However, the challenge is to develop the needed infrastructure to connect all these renewable energy generation sources with natural gas, diesel, biogas and biomass etc. to power the state’s electrification success which sadly still has the highest System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) rate in Malaysia.
“For example, the distribution infrastructure spanning some 350km from Kudat’s solar PV farm and wind renewable energy sources to the Sabah Ammonia Urea (SAMUR) Project in the Sipitang Oil & Gas Industrial Park (SOGIP) has to be optimised and connected,” said Abdul Qavi.
Malaysia is on a journey to be carbon neutral by 2050 to be a net zero state. The journey to a low carbon economy takes time as the development of renewable energy is being supported by increasing usage of natural gas.
The panellists noted the reality that the oil and gas sector is here to stay for the foreseeable future as the sector contributes 28 per cent of the GDP of Malaysia and creates 25 per cent of the jobs in the country.
However, the oil and gas industries contribute 80 per cent of the GHG emission recorded in Malaysia as Petronas hopes to end flaring and reduce methane emission by 2030.
They opined that Sabah can be a hub for greener hydrogen, ammonia, methanol that can fuel further down streaming of ancillary industries, like for example, with marine bunkering as more ship vessels are being equipped with lower carbon ammonia engines along the huge East Asia market shipping route.
