As Malaysia looks to become a key contributor towards low carbon emission in the region, various policy changes are currently being tabled at the cabinet together with the advice from MGTC (Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Centre). Among the changes is the reliant on petrol and diesel vehicles which emit large carbon emission into the atmosphere and the adoption of more efficient and less harmful to the environment mode of transport.
BEV’s or Battery Electric Vehicles are one of the option available that could bring low carbon mobility to the country, manufacturers like Tesla, Volvo, Mercedes and slew of China made automobiles are already making tremendous advancement in their vehicle technology. In Malaysia we are yet to see large scale adoption, even though there has been strong-push from the local manufacturers, the reason for the hold back is presumably due to the lack of readily available infrastructure like charging stations. But that is about to change, Tenaga Nasional Berhad the country’s largest power utility company is inviting stake holders and private entities to come over and discuss with them, the energy player is serious about the matter and to take the lead in the country’s mobility transition.
TNB Chief Strategy and Ventures Officer, Datuk Fazlur Rahman Zainuddin said while it was crucial that the energy sector is gradually decarbonised, other sectors, including the transportation sector must also see similar decarbonisation effort to ensure a holistic approach to the nation’s decarbonisation pathway.
The company has been actively embarking on its journey towards carbon neutralisation with assets currently belonging to TNB are finding ways including using solar panels in their premises to achieve this goal. ASEAN region is known to be increasing in its energy consumption with many power plants starting to go online while most of these developing nations focus on power generation to feed the growing industries, TNB is playing a more responsible role with its decarbonising ambition and driving changes in the transportation sector.
TNB made the commitment during a virtual round table session which was also attended by Deputy Secretary-General (Policy) from the Ministry of Transport, Normah Osman where Fazlur stated that the energy provider is keen to work with any private-sector party that wants to transition to electric mobility, and at the same time, step up on multi-ministerial engagements to flesh out Malaysia’s low-carbon mobility plans. He added that the decarbonisation effort must take an all-of-government and all-of-society approach to work.
To date, TNB together with MGTC have installed 73 EV charging stations in 31 locations,, the recent Memorandum of Understanding with DHL Express Malaysia which entails the utility company installing EV charging stations along DHL’s key service routes, is to help the logistics company advance the electrification of its fleet in the future.
Based on the numbers obtained from Malaysia’s 3rd Biennial Update Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), transportation contributed around 55,188 Giga grams CO2, which accounts for around 21% of Malaysia’s total CO2 emissions in 2016.
In order to set the actions in motion, TNB has set up Project Management Office to drive the EV agenda, and is ever willing to provide the necessary EV infrastructure across the nation.
