Malaysia Energy Roundtable: Shaping the Future of Malaysia’s Energy Landscape

(From left) Roberto Bocca, Head of Future of Energy and Materials, World Economic Forum; Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, PETRONAS President and Group CEO; YB Yeo Bee Yin, Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment & Climate Change (MESTECC); Datuk Ir. Ahmad Fauzi Hasan, Chairman of Energy Commission of Malaysia; and Datuk Fazlur Rahman Zainuddin, Chief Strategy and Regulatory Officer of Tenaga Nasional Berhad at the Malaysia Energy Roundtable.

Kuala Lumpur, 10 July 2019 – PETRONAS, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF), on Wednesday organised the Malaysia Energy Roundtable to facilitate a public-private discussion on the future of Malaysia’s energy landscape, and to foster an effective energy transition while balancing the priorities of energy security, economic growth, and environmental sustainability.

The Roundtable is part of the WEF’s Energy Programme in ASEAN and is an avenue for stakeholders from across the energy ecosystem in Malaysia to discuss the vision and steps in achieving energy transition.

The half-day event brought together policymakers, industry players, academia and WEF’s partners in the energy sphere to explore the acceleration of energy transition in Malaysia while also discussing the challenges faced by the various stakeholders. The forum also identified levers needed to create the enabling environment for an effective energy transition and Malaysia’s role in the energy landscape, both regionally and globally.

Roberto Bocca, Head of Future of Energy and Materials from WEF, presented key insights from the “Energy Transition Index (ETI) 2019” that benchmarked 115 countries’ performance of their energy systems and their readiness for energy transition from the dimensions of security and access, environmental sustainability, and economic development and growth.

Malaysia ranked 31st on the index, one of the highest among countries in Southeast Asia. The nation also scored high in terms of energy security and electrification rate, usage of solid fuels, fuel mix diversity and reliability of electricity supply.

On the environmental front, the discussion also focused on renewable energy sources as part of long-term solutions to address the energy transition and to balance the nation’s future energy needs.During the Roundtable session, Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment & Climate Change (MESTECC) YB Yeo Bee Yin spoke about policy priorities needed to improve environmental sustainability for the energy sector and highlighted Malaysia’s role in the global arena for climate change.

PETRONAS President and Group CEO, Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, said that while oil and gas continues to remain the Company’s core business in line with the continued dominance of oil and gas in the primary energy mix, PETRONAS has taken steps to explore new growth areas beyond conventional oil and gas.

Against the backdrop demand for more sustainable energy sources PETRONAS is considering viable investments in renewable energy, namely solar, wind and biomass, at a commercial scale,” he said. “These new ventures will support MESTECC’s initiatives to reduce carbon emissions intensity by 45% per GDP per capita by 2030, and achieving a low-carbon economy status.”Datuk Ir Ahmad Fauzi Hasan, Chairman of Energy Commission of Malaysia, said that an evolving regulatory landscape is necessary to ensure a reliable and affordable energy system, while new technology and business models are a prerequisite in the ever-changing energy sector. Meanwhile, Datuk Fazlur Rahman Zainuddin, Chief Strategy and Regulatory Officer of Tenaga Nasional Berhad, spoke about the utility’s future direction as electrification & digitalisation are expected to serve as catalysts for future economic growth and development of the country. At the same time, there are also challenges on existing infrastructure, fuel mix, and human capital development.

The Roundtable will foster closer public-private collaboration for a secure, sustainable, affordable and inclusive future energy system for Malaysia, identify long‐term energy transition roadmaps by considering current energy system performance, and highlighting the necessary enablers that improve nations’ readiness for energy transition.

Discussions at the Roundtable are aligned with findings of the published white paper “Malaysia’s Future Energy Landscape: An Ambition for 2050”. The paper highlighted the aspirations for Malaysia’s energy landscape in the next three decades, including the direction needed for the energy sector and also the oil & gas industry.

PETRONAS as a member of the World Economic Forum is pleased to bring WEF’s Energy Programme in ASEAN to Malaysia to enhance public-private cooperation to achieve a sustainable, affordable, secure and inclusive energy future, which is essential for the economic and social development of the country.