Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
KUALA LUMPUR: Sarawak is committed to growing its clean energy generation sector following the vast opportunities for investors to collaborate with the state, says Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
“The global economy has shifted towards green energy and in Sarawak, we have the resources to produce it. I believe that Sarawak will contribute towards the new economy that is faced by the world,” he said at the Mida Invest Series entitled “Sarawak: Unfolding its business potential” here, yesterday.
He added that the state would be prioritising several key areas as an effort to address the intermittency of variable renewable energy and more clean energy generation technologies that can be commercially deployed in Sarawak.
Among the key areas are large-scale solar, bio-energy (such as biomass and biogas), waste-to-energy and pump hydrogen storage.
Earlier this year, Abang Johari unveiled Sarawak’s vision of achieving 10 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030.
Sarawak also planned to export renewable energy, especially hydrogen, by the end of 2027. However, it has no plans to build a nuclear plant as an alternative to generate electricity.
As Sarawak has a variety of resources to generate electricity he said: “Why do we need nuclear? We already have hydropower”.
On the lack of talents, he said many local talents had relocated to the state.
Additionally, he said the state also had plans to provide free education to an estimated 25,000 local students by 2026.
“This is so that they can be trained and be the talent that we need in this new economy”.
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, who was also at the event, said Sarawak’s ambitious green energy agenda, which aims to decarbonise its transport system and transition towards a low-carbon economy, is complementary to the national-level strategy on green investments, such as the New Industrial Master Plan and the National Energy Transition Roadmap.
“Sarawak’s effort is clearly gaining momentum, with great examples such as the Bintulu Port – a major deep-water port in the country’s maritime industry – that is leading the way in environmental, social and governance,”
In the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24), RM83.7bil worth of investments had been approved, with more than 56% being approved foreign investments.
“Sarawak has been a key part of that growth story, attracting RM4.2bil in approved investments for 1Q24. The total investments approved will create 29,000 new jobs for Malaysians, a 14.6% increase year-on-year,” he added.
