WITH sustainable living remains as one of the four broad themes of the upcoming Budget 2021 based on the announcements by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Plus Solar lauds the government for its continuous effort in creating growth in the clean energy sector.
In its wishlist for the upcoming Budget 2021, Plus Solar co-founder and CEO Ko Chuan Zhen hopes that the government would implement tax breaks to individuals to invest in solar-related products, including books, journals and personal tech devices.
“Incentivising domestic solar adoption could lead to a more sustainable way of living for consumers,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Ko also pointed out that solar setups normally require high upfront costs, especially when coupled with the Sales and Services Tax (SST). Due to this, Ko hopes that the tax could be waived for imported solar panels to encourage further adoption.
Apart from that, Ko mentioned that the country’s current Net Energy Metering (NEM 2.0 scheme) has allowed excess solar photovoltaic (PV) generated energy to be exported back to the grid on a “one-on-one” offset basis, meaning full returns on every kiloWatt generated.
Its quota of 500 MW ends Dec 31 this year, with only 30% of the quota remaining for applications. This is highly beneficial to end-users operating in industrial, commercial, residential and agricultural sectors as excess solar energy will be directly offset to one’s electricity bill.
“The uptake of NEM has grown steadily resulting in 102 megawatts (MW) generated in 2019, compared to only 27.8MWp produced in 2016 and 2018. An extension of the NEM 1:1 tariff quota would be beneficial for both the Government and solar adopters alike,” he said.
Naming the battery energy storage systems to be a key component to realising the development of smart grids to generate clean energy, Ko also suggest for tax exemptions for those systems.
“(The exemption) will soften the impact of their high upfront costs and allow our energy grid to take its next form and become sophisticated enough to recognise various forms of clean energy,” he added.
In line with another theme of the budget, Ko wishes for the rural and remote areas around the country without access to electricity to be outfitted with solar solutions to improve their quality of life.
“We propose action here through direct investment by the government towards these previously unpowered areas. As it stands, there are programmes like MySuria, and the Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (SARES), which aims to power 22,360 rural homes in the vast state with solar power,” Ko said in the statement.
Finally, Ko mentioned Plus Solar’s support regarding the tax on the carbon content of fossil fuels, pushing the players in traditional energy sources to be more inclined to reinvest their assets to renewable energy instead.
“Besides its environmental benefits, it would bring clean energy sources like solar closer to economic parity with fossil fuels. We motion for the government to introduce it by emulating the success of other countries. In the UK, adoption of the tax has led to a 93% drop in coal-fired electricity,” Ko explained. – Oct 29, 2020
