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Malaysia looking to export green electricity to new capital Nusantara
Malaysia's natural resources and climate change minister told The Jakarta Post during a recent interview that it was looking at the potential for exporting its surplus green electricity from Sarawak to Indonesia's new capital in East Kalimantan.
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Malaysian Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Nik Nazmi bin Nik Ahmad speaks to 'The Jakarta Post' on Aug. 23, 2023 during an interview in Jakarta. (JP/Vincent Fabian Thomas /Vincent Fabian Thomas)
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alaysia is viewing Indonesia’s Nusantara Capital City (IKN) project as a potential export market for its green electricity as it sets its sights on becoming ASEAN’s renewable energy hub.
Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Malaysia's Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, told an interview with The Jakarta Post on Wednesday in Jakarta that he expected Sarawak to play a major role in supplying Indonesia’s new capital with green electricity, citing the state’s abundance of renewable energy sources.
“I think Sarawak will play a big role in that. I mean, it has a lot of hydroelectricity resources. In that way, it’s a bit similar to Laos with the mountains,” Nik Nazmi said.
Malaysia has previously sold its electricity to Kalimantan, with the first electricity exported to the western part of the Indonesian region.
The new capital is designed as a green city, and includes the use of renewables to power the city.
However, renewable energy comprises less than an estimated 5 percent of Kalimantan’s energy mix this year, with the rest coming mainly from coal-fired power plants, according to PLN's latest 10-year Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL).
The government also plans building a hydropower plant in Mentarang, North Kalimantan, to supply electricity to its new capital, but the project only broke ground in March so its operation is still years away.
