SCRAP the Pulau Indah independent power producer (IPP) plant and invest in green technology for a better future, said Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).
“The construction will start in January next year but I don’ think we need the plant as once it’s completed in 2024, it will produce 1,200 megawatts (MW) of electricity, raising our margins between 24% and 48% until 2030.
“For a tropical nation like Malaysia, the maximum reserve margin needed would be 20%. Beyond the threshold, the public will be forced to pay higher tariffs for unused electricity,” its central committee member Sharan Raj told FocusM.
In November last year, former Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change minister Yeo Bee Yin said the Government would continue with the Pulau Indah IPP plan due to the need to raise power supply in the central region, to cope with rising demand.
She added that in the event of a power shortage in the central region, the northern and southern regions would not be able to help much due to limited transmission capacity.
“The central zone (Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya) consumes 43% of total demand in the Peninsula.
“To ensure energy security, the Government uses the ‘islanding’ concept to ensure energy supply in one area is sufficient to support the demand in the same area,” Yeo was reported saying then.
On Yeo’s comments, Sharan said that the ‘islanding’ concept was only used and practiced by large nations, unlike Malaysia.
“The ‘islanding’ concept to generate electricity only applies to big nations such as Russia, China and the European Union.
“Even our neighbour, Indonesia, doesn’t use the ‘islanding’ concept despite being far bigger than us,” he said.
Public health at risk
The PSM leader the urged the Government to keep its focus on achieving the 25% renewable energy target by 2025 in order to boost green technology, thus creating new jobs for Malaysians.
He added that given the renewable energy target, the Pulau Indah IPP project would be made redundant in the future.
“Building one of the biggest fossil fuel power plant will only make it harder for Malaysia to achieve our climate commitment.
“Besides, the increase in air pollution from the fossil fuel-powered Pulau Indah plant will only cause more respiratory diseases among Selangor residents,” said Sharan. – Dec 6, 2020.
