NEM3.0 allows owners of commercial and industrial buildings to share excess energy with their buildings in different locations

by AFIQ AZIZ / pic by TMR FILE

AFTER the success of Net Energy Metering (NEM) 2.0, the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry (KeTSA) yesterday announced the third NEM scheme for the next three years.

Introduced in January 2019, KeTSA said the 500MW quota in NEM2.0 has been fully taken up on Nov 27, 2020, a month before the scheme’s expiry date.

For NEM3.0, KeTSA said the same quota size will be offered within the next 36 months, entailing all energy users namely residents, commercial and industrial.

The NEM scheme is a solar photovoltaic (PV) initiative by the ministry which allows consumers to instal solar panels at their buildings, with an aim to encourage renewable energy (RE) uptake in the country.

“The NEM3.0 programme also introduces new innovations using the concept of virtual NEM, allowing owners of commercial and industrial buildings to share excess energy with their buildings in different locations,” KeTSA Minister Datuk Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said in a statement yesterday.

Shamsul Anuar said under the previous initiative, applications from residential users were not very encouraging, with only 5% of the total application received.

To boost the domestic usage for solar PV, he said the government will introduce the People’s NEM Programme.

The scheme will offer a “one-on-one” offset mechanism which allows every kilowatt (kWh) exported to the grid to offset against each kWh consumed from the grid.

It means, every kWh generated will get a return and hence translating to higher potential earnings to the users.

Shamsul Anuar said the People NEM programme maintains a one-to-one offset concept with a quota of 100MW or until all quotas is exhausted.

“Consumers will enjoy the one-to-one offset rate for 10 years and electricity bill savings through the concept of self-consumption after the period ends,” he said, adding that applications can be made to the Sustainable Energy Development Authority from Feb 1, 2021, to Dec 31, 2023.

“This programme provides the benefit of reducing electricity bills for 10,000 to 25,000 Tenaga Nasional Bhd domestic account owners or about 40,000 to 100,000 households in Peninsular Malaysia,” Shamsul Anuar added.

For the New GoMEn (Government Ministries and Entities) programme, the ministry said PV systems installed at government buildings will implement the concept of “one-to-one” offset rate for 10 years and they, too, will practice the self-consumption concept after the 10-year period ends.

About 100 government agencies in Peninsular Malaysia will enjoy a reduction in electricity bills amounting to RM6 million a month, said Shamsul Anuar.

Meanwhile, to assist commercial and industrial electricity users that were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Shamsul said Programme Nova (Net Offset Virtual Aggregation) will assist entrepreneurs and local companies to reduce electricity bills and the cost of doing business.

According to Shamsul Anuar, users under this category will be able to sell extra electrical energy generated by the PV solar system at a market price or a system marginal price as an energy credit in the following month’s electricity bill.

Users under this category will also be able to offset extra electrical energy through “virtual aggregation” for up to three electricity bills under the same owner.

“The government hopes that the implementation of NEM3.0 will enable more Malaysians, government agencies, companies and local entrepreneurs to be involved in the agenda of the country’s latest energy development aside from reducing electricity bills to reduce the impact of Covid-19,” Shamsul Anuar added.