UTILITY giant, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), will continue prioritising investments to modernise the national grid into the “grid of the future”, a network which is resilient, smart and flexible, and yet reliable to meet the country’s energy transition needs.
The modernisation of TNB’s Grid and Distribution Network infrastructure will ensure the productivity, efficiency and reliability of the electricity supply network for the people and at the same time support business and economic activities.
Thus, TNB continues to invest heavily to modernise the National Grid into a consistent, digital and flexible smart grid to receive renewable energy (RE) to support dynamic two-way energy flow, while maintaining voltage stability.
The investment enables the grid to become a key enabler of energy transition, connecting its entire service value chain from generation to transmission and distribution to customer premises.
TNB has developed a self-contained energy ecosystem that focuses on benefitting human life, in fulfilling its role as the driver of national development, throughout its more than seven decades of existence.
This ecosystem is developed according to the needs and interests of the country as well as the current geopolitical environment, in line with the use of technology and human lifestyle so that it continues to be relevant in the changing landscape of the energy industry.
TNB has matured since its inception 73 years ago and has made significant contributions to national development as well as ensuring that it remains relevant in every stage of technological development and national growth.
The country’s electricity supply is comparable to any continent with its quality already world-class or better than some developed countries including Europe.
In the transmission system minutes — which measure the minutes of interference due to high voltage each year — TNB recorded a reduction to 0.08 minute last year, its 13 consecutive years below the two-minute level.
The System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) has dropped consistently below the 60-minute mark since 2014 to reach 45.25 minutes last year.
SAIDI is the global energy industry’s method of measuring the average length of time consumers spend when a supply disruption occurs in a year.
The modernisation of the grid with smart features which makes it easier to carry out detection and restoration work in addition to the experience, skills and competence of TNB’s technical team allows supply to be restored gradually and as quickly as possible.
Therefore, consumers need not worry about TNB’s ability to provide reliable electricity because the utility company is always carrying out maintenance and continues to make investments to improve its system’s capacity.
The price of natural gas in the global market also increased and caused countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the UK to increase rates because the cost of electricity generation has increased dramatically.
TNB announced its sustainability pathway with an aspiration to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, in a bold move towards decarbonisation and RE.
Under its sustainability pathway, TNB aspires to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. This aspiration is underpinned by a commitment to reduce 35% of its emissions intensity as well as 50% of its coal generation capacity by 2035.
In addition, TNB has pledged to ensure its revenue from coal generation plants does not exceed 25% of its total revenue.
Leading up to the 2035 commitment, TNB will continue to improve efficiency at its existing thermal plants and build up scale in its renewable generation portfolio.
TNB has targeted to achieve 8,300MW of RE by 2025 and is committed to accelerating investments in emerging green technologies as soon as it becomes economically viable.
The utility giant remains committed to the government’s green agenda and Malaysia’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030, relative to the 2005 baseline. — TMR / pic BERNAMA
- This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition