I attended the 29th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) in Jerudong, Brunei Darussalam held on 20 September 2011 chaired by Hon. Pehin Dato (Dr) Mohammad Yasmin Umar, Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office of Brunei Darussalam.
I wish to convey my heartfelt gratitude to the Government and people of Brunei Darussalam for the excellent organization of this Meeting and the warm hospitality accorded to me and members of my delegation.
Simultaneously, the 8th Meeting of Energy Ministers of the ASEAN Plus Three countries (ASEAN, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea), the 5th East Asian Summit Energy Ministers Meeting (5th EAS EMM), and a consultation with the International Energy Agency were also held in conjuction with 29th AMEM.
Beside Hon. Pehin Dato (Dr) Mohammad Yasmin Umar, Minister of Energy, at the Prime Minister’s Office of Brunei Darussalam; myself, the meeting was well attended by H.E. Dr Ith Praing, Secretary of State, Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy of Cambodia; H.E. Darwin Zahedy Saleh, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia; H.E. Soulivong Daravong, Minister of Energy and Mines of Lao PDR; H.E. Than Htay, Union Minister for Energy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; H.E. Jose Rene D. Almendras, Secretary, Department of Energy, the Republic of the Philippines; H.E. S. Iswaran, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade and Industry of Singapore; H.E. Pichai Naripthaphan, Minister of Energy of Thailand; H.E. Le Duong Quang, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam and H.E. Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN.
“ASEAN Connectivity” was chosen as the theme to reflect the commitment of the ASEAN Ministers of Energy to map out key strategies and actions to enhance physical, institutional and people-to-people connectivity in the region.
In my policy statement, I mentioned that as ASEAN is transforming into the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015, AMEM’s role would be in contributing to ASEAN Connectivity, especially through the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) and the Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline (TAGP) projects.
I also stressed on the importance of RE which will open a new spectrum of power, light, business and employment. As RE can only be promoted aggressively with the inclusion of RE-related businesses because RE needs private technology and financing, it is important for ASEAN members to also look into business and commercial issues of RE.
In this aspect, I told the meeting that we should explore avenues for inclusion of RE businesses in our endeavour. An ASEAN level forum for RE businesses, with the participation of government representatives, would be an excellent endeavour to push forward the RE agenda in ASEAN.
The 29th AMEM concluded with issuance of the Joint Ministerial Statement and I am confident AMEM will continue to propel ASEAN energy cooperation to greater heights.
Please follow the links below to read the full text of the statements.
http://www.asean.org/26626.htm
Joint Ministerial Statement of the 29th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM)
http://www.asean.org/26627.htm
Joint Ministerial Statement of the Fifth East Asian Summit Energy Ministers Meeting
http://www.asean.org/26628.htm
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Dear D’ Chin,
Just wondering why “wind power generation” is not part of the FiT scheme. Wind power generation has a much lower entry point cost for R&D, than other forms of RE and should be included if FiT is imlemented.
Kettha should be encouraging fundamental R&D activities rather than just “industry specific” development. Furthermore, on an economic and “industry development” basis, wind installed cost is about the same as that of solar (PV) at the present time. i.e. abt $15K per KWp installed.
Hi,
See how wind turbines generate clean electricity from the power of the wind. Highlighted are the various parts and mechanisms of a modern wind turbine. http://vimeo.com/13759005
Hi,
The modern three-blade, computer-controlled wind turbine does what all wind turbines have always done http://vimeo.com/16172014
Wind Turbine Basics by Dora Nakafuji, Ph.D., speaks about wind energy http://vimeo.com/10876010
Hi David & HC Lau,
The RE Act & FiT have commenced w.e.f. 1st Dec. 2011, with the biggest no of applications & power capacity apparently being for solar PV.
We still don’t have any assessment for wind power generation in Malaysia. I am sure several bloggers here (& perhaps some of those who read but don’t write on this blog) may have technical proposals for wind powered generation. Is any of them able to demostrate a “viable business model” of such power generaton on a commercial basis for the tropics? Even the existing wind generators on P. Layang layang & P. Perhentian do not appear to be working at anywhere near the output they were designed to produce. Unfortunately there seem to be no performance figures for these in the ST’s Annual Statistics Books (at least I haven’t seen any yet). At least figures for bipmass RE plants are available for comparison.
In my opinion, the reason for the absence of wind power generation in the tropics must be due to it being not economically justified. I would be happy to follow up with anyone who can show a reasonably justifiable wind power generation system that is suitable for the tropics.
I am aware that SIRIM has conducted some research on this form of RE for Malaysia but have yet to see the results.
A TNB rep previously gave some info on their mini-hydro power plants. Can TNB give a simmilar indication of the performance of their existing wind generators in Malaysia?
Cheers,
Lal
Dear Mr Ir. Lalchand ,
SEDA has taken note of your comments on the wind potential for Malaysia. There have been many opinions for and against power generation from wind resources in Malaysia. The most common view is that Malaysia lies very near the Equator which is deemed as an area of where there is little wind energy potential. It is also in our knowledge there is a good wind potential in Sabah, especially in Kudat. However, it is difficult to make an informed decision because there is no wind atlas of Malaysia.
SEDA Malaysia is in the process of commissioning a comprehensive wind mapping study for Malaysia which will identify potential regions with wind resource as well as the type and capacity of wind turbines suitable to the region. The study, which will record the wind speeds 24 hours a day, for 365 days, at various locations, is expected to take about 24 months. With the authoritative wind resource map for Malaysia, SEDA Malaysia will consider including wind power generation in the FiT. Apart from wind, SEDA is also commissioning another study on geothermal resource in Malaysia in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources.
On another perspective, SEDA Malaysia has realised with the implementation of FiT, the uptake for existing FIT quota for non-solar PV resources is rather slow. Thus, SEDA Malaysia will be engaging with various stakeholders to facilitate projects in these technologies. Any issuance of new RE quota would be carefully studied because it depends on the amount of RE Fund available. This is important to ensure the implementation of FiT benefits the renewable energy industry comprehensively.