Kuala Nerang, Jan 22- The government targets to achieve 11 per cent renewable energy usage by individual consumers and the industrial sector by 2020, said Deputy Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid.
He said the usage of renewable energy generated by solar, biogas and biomass in the country was at 1.5 per cent and hoped this percentage could be increased every year.
He said so far the federal government is the facilitator and awarded licences to renewable energy players, both individuals and companies, by providing financing facilities.
“To purchase solar panels, they can apply for loans at the participating banks and the government will bear two per cent of the loan interest,” he said to reporters at the Felda second generation house building proposal meeting at Felda Lubok Merbau near here Tuesday.
Mahdzir, who is also Padang Terap Member of Parliament, said to date the country had used only 862.4 megawatts (MW) of the renewable energy, not including hydropower which contributed 3,281MW.
He said the implementation of the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) system in December 2012 saw demand from the community, that is, 2,760 applications received for the production of renewable energy with a quota of only 536MW.
“To increase the level of effectiveness and efficiency of the FiT system, the ministry plans to introduce other mechanisms including more competitive bidding and renewable portfolio standard,” he said.
He said the federal government planned to explore more renewable energy sources such as geothermal and ocean thermal technologies.
– Bernama
