Malakoff Corporation Berhad (Malakoff) today hosted the third Malakoff Community Partnerships Energy Expert Series exploring the enabling effect feed-in tariffs (FiT) are anticipated to have in the creation of a sustainable Renewable Energy (RE) sector in Malaysia.

The lecture series featured David Jacobs, a widely recognised expert on International best-practice for the legal and regulatory framework for RE, and co-author of “Powering the Green Economy – the feed-in tariff handbook” and “Feed-in Tariffs: the policy path to 100% renewable”, followed by insights by the second keynote speaker Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association of New Zealand, with over 30 years of experience, split equally across public policy, commercial development of energy projects and leading energy based industry associations.

Speaking at the opening, Malakoff’s Chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali said, “The Energy Expert Series is part of Malakoff’s continuous commitment to promote the development and exchange of knowledge in the area of sustainable energy, in line with the Government’s 10th Malaysia Plan.”

“Malakoff firmly believes that investing in the promotion of dialogue on topics relating to Green Energy is an important part of our strategy to change the mindset of the industry, our own people at Malakoff and even our business partners. As a company and an industry leader, we truly believe that Renewable Energy has an important role to play in Malaysia’s energy mix in the medium and longer term,” he added.

The Malakoff’s Energy Expert Series also featured an expert panel discussion chaired by Ir Ahmad Hadri Haris, Chief Technical Advisor of the National Malaysian Building Integrated Photovoltaic (MBIPV) Project, a collaborative project between the Government of Malaysia and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

A key component of Malakoff’s flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Platform - the Malakoff Community Partnerships, the Energy Expert Series serves as a platform for Malaysian policy makers and industry players to proactively engage with global experts on topics relevant to the country’s energy sector. This talk is the third edition of the lecture series.

The first two editions featured prominent experts in FiT and RE such as Hans-Josef Fell, Member of the German Bundestag, Dr. Wuthipong Suponthana, the Managing Director of Leonics, Thailand and Daniel Ruoss, the Managing Director of Envision Solar Energy Solutions, Australia.

“The recent announcement by the Prime Minister in his Budget 2011 speech of a number of incentives to promote Renewable Energy will provide the catalyst to boost private sector. Moreover, with the upcoming Renewable Energy Act, its associated feed-in tariffs, opportunities to participate in the green revolution should not be considered as limited to industry, as it is equally applicable to any grid connected location across the country,” said Tan Sri Halim.

During the talk, Jacobs, a Distinguished Visitor under the Brain Gain Malaysia program by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and currently hosted by the Institute for Energy Policy And Research (IEPRe) at Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), clarified about the key support mechanisms utilised internationally to support the growth of the RE sector.

Jacobs detailed a comprehensive analysis of the difference in quantity-based support mechanism versus price-based or FiT-based mechanism, which when assessed in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and investment security clearly supports the Government’s decision to adopt the latter.

Commending Malaysia’s foresight in articulating a RE policy and plan, Jacobs noted: “Malaysia’s target of producing 5.5 % of total generation capacity from renewable sources by 2015 is truly commendable. The expansion of the sector will not only act to reduce the unit costs of renewable energy to consumers, but importantly the multiplier effect of these investments will offer a broad range of benefits to the Malaysian economy through the reduction in costs for fuel and importantly the avoidance of costs that would otherwise be incurred through environmental damage.”

Additionally, Jacobs offered Germany’s experience with RE and FiT as a model where the unit cost for RE from free-standing solar photovoltaic systems had fallen from approximately € 0 .50/kWh in 2000 to € 0 25/kWh today. Further adding the significant positive impact the RE sector in Germany has had, Jacobs highlighted that the sector offered employment to over 300,000 people.

Closer to home, in Malaysia, the implementation of the National Energy Model is expected to achieve RM70billion RE business revenue and provide employment opportunities to over 52,000 by 2020.The production of RE would lead to greater green collar jobs opportunities and achieve the objective of the new economic model by stimulating local manufacturing.