In line with its manifesto promise to reform institutions and policies, the Pakatan Harapan government needs to scrutinize and, where necessary, revamp policies and regulations that have proven unsuccessful and inefficient in meeting set targets. One space that is in dire need of policy reform is renewable energy (RE), and the development and deployment of such technology in Malaysia. In 2015, Malaysia had achieved under 446MW (or 45.2%) of its target of 985MW of installed electricity generation capacity from RE sources. Since then, the gap between ambition and reality has only increased.
In analysing the key RE policies implemented since the gazetting of the RE Act in 2011, the Penang Institute in Kuala Lumpur (PI in KL) has identified numerous issues that have contributed to the slow pace of RE growth in Malaysia, and proposes six solutions that would improve existing policy mechanisms and set strong foundations for effective RE legislation moving forward.
