Malaysian electricity utility company Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has laid out a plan to spearhead growth in the power generation sector.
According to TNB’s “Position On Response To Covid-19 And Economic Crisis” and reported by the New Straits Times, the plan consists of six ‘game-changers’:
- ‘Grid of the Future’ technologies
- Building a global solar manufacturing hub
- Raising national competitiveness through energy efficiency
- Electrifying mobility for Malaysia
- Advancing connectivity for the country’s digital economy
- Reskilling Malaysia
Grid of the Future
The ‘Grid of the Future’ technologies will help improve the grid’s reliability and efficiency, such as distribution automation, smart metering, as well as other critical core upgrades and expansion. TNB plans to invest a total of RM2.7 billion, which has the potential to deliver an estimated GDP impact of RM15 billion to RM25 billion, supporting over 300,000 jobs.
Building a Global Solar Manufacturing Hub
Under this initiative, TNB proposes to spearhead a fast-tracked large-scale solar programme (LSS), by investing up to 1400 MW into LSS and 75 MW of distributed solar generation.
Raising National Competitiveness through Energy
The report also outlined TNB’s commitment to supporting the National Energy Efficiency policy, which aims to reduce Malaysia’s energy per GDP unit ratio.
This is done by obtaining higher energy savings from the current eight percent target by 2025, and also focusing on the long-term development of energy efficiency focused industries.
Electrifying Mobility
As internal combustion slowly makes way for electric propulsion, it makes sense that one of ASEAN’s key car manufacturing hubs also pivots towards electric mobility.
To make Malaysia the electric vehicle (EV) hub in ASEAN, TNB will focus on growing the existing automotive industrial ecosystem as outlined in the National Automotive Policy. Additional technologies such as vehicle-grid interoperability and EV charging systems as virtual energy storage will also be addressed.
Advancing Connectivity for Digital Economy
TNB can play a role in the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP), as well as the 5G rollout. This is done through using TNB’s existing network to bring speed and cost synergies to the rollout – achieving the NFCP’s plan of bridging the digital divide between rural and urban residents.
Reskilling Malaysia
To ensure the required talent and human resources are on hand to execute the game-changers, TNB will focus on training graduates and reskilling more employees via various training bodies, including its own in-house training centre ILSAS and wholly-owned university UNITEN. These academies can train 10,000 employees per year.
