Energy Efficiency by SESB

Being the sole licensee for the supply of electricity in Sabah, SESB has initiated a drive to promote energy efficiency in the State. The Energy Efficiency Steering Committee (EESC) meeting is to be called this week at power company's head office in Karamunsing, Kota Kinabalu.

The main focus is to accomplish noble objectives such as:

1. To identify challenges and solutions to the promotion of Energy Efficiency or energy saving initiatives amongst consumers in Sabah,
2. To build a strong and effective collaboration of ideals, efforts and results amongst key industry players,
3. To accelerate a culture of responsible consumerism and an effective energy demand management in Sabah.

There were few other initiatives by SESB in the past but let's hope this one - with the involvement of some ministries and key industry players - would bring about better results towards preserving energy via efficiency.

Stay efficient, save energy, save money!


Let's see if this'd come out in the local dailies tomorrow.

Power tariff restructuring - Some win, some lose, and some are losing big time

The sweeping statement by SESB regarding the recent tariff rate increase is somewhat misleading, and to some extent disappointing even if one can understand the justification for the restructuring.


Granted, the more-or-less 75% domestic consumers are safeguarded. Some 70,500 consumers even get kind of pleasant surprise as a result of the exercise, they stand to pay less than the amount they are currently paying.

Those who are currently paying a monthly bill of RM20.00 and below continue to enjoy the rebate from the government. In other words they enjoy electricity for free until further notice.

The electricity supply provider, however, FAILED to mention the painful fact that there would be certain consumers (especially Commercial and Industrial sectors) that would suffer an increase of as high as 45% in energy cost. Now that's what I call HUGE jump! I have few case studies and this is exactly what I found out.

Few weeks ago I found myself in the wrong place at the right time to be sitting among journalists in a press conference. During the briefing, SESB's Managing Director, Datuk Ir. Baharin Din explained that:

The cost of producing 1 (one) unit of electricity in Sabah is -

75.54 cent - without subsidy on gas by Petronas, and
44.60 cent - without government subsidy on fuel.
31.69 cent - WITH govt subsidy.

How much does SESB charge consumers for each unit of electricity? That's 29.25 cent on average. From every angle one look at it, it is a losing business model. But, should it be that way?

Ir. Baharin further explained that even with the revision of tariff rates, the utility company is still not making money yet and it still need the assistance from the government to keep going.



Ir. Baharin Din explaining the tariff restructuring to journalist


In the water industry there is a term Non-Revenue Water (NRW) to denote water that is lost between point of production and the consumer's tap. Sabah's NRW is currently among the highest in Malaysia. Let's not let SESB fall in the same pit as the Water supply. I recon that SESB's immediate challenge is the non-revenue electricity (if I can call it that) in the form of, or due to

• power theft


• equipment/cable theft


• frequent power outage


• ageing equipment


• human resource restructuring

While calling for human resource restructuring may not be justified (and it may not even be an issue), the first four are factual. In fact, if one compares SESB's situation to SESCO and TNB, it is still lagging behind in terms of managing the above.


Table 1: Summary of the impact of SESB electricity tariff revision on consumers.


I mentioned earlier that some consumers (such as industry players) are affected by increase of power cost by more than 40%. The following is a typical scenario:

EXAMPLE
Company XYZ is taking supply at low voltage and is consuming 320,000 kWh of energy every month with Maximum Demand of 500kW.

Prior to July 15, 2011 Company XYZ would be categorised under Tariff ID2:
MaxDemand - RM7,500.00 (500 x RM15.00)
Energy Usage - RM64,000.00 (320,000 x RM0.20)
TOTAL MONTHLY: RM71,500.00

After July 15, 2011 Company XYZ is re-classified to Tariff ID1 (due to new criteria):
MaxDemand - none (no M.Demand charges)
Energy Usage - RM102,400 (320,000 x RM0.32)
TOTAL MONTHLY: RM102,400.00

Increase = RM30,900.00 or 43.2%

That is RM370,800 annually. Maybe the boss would think twice now about giving out bonus this year end. Sadly, this could be true for many enterprises.

The bigger industrial consumers do have associations of their own. They should bring their issues up to SESB through special meeting and or dialogue.

For your reference, check out the new rates you are paying in New Tariff Book. If the link is not working or is slow in downloading, check the simplified table here.

Buy 5-Star Appliances and get some Rebates for yourself

I recall my previous post in June 2011, titled It Pays to Go Green and very little information was available about the SAVE program back then.

I know this piece of info has since been updated by by the government for a while now but I'll mention it here anyway. 

The RM200 rebate for refrigerators and RM100 for air-conditioners is currently on going on a first-come-first-served basis.

If you are currently living in Sabah, the quota is 3,670 units (refrigerator) and 3,946 units (air-con). The biggest beneficiaries are those living in Selangor (17,315 and 11,601 units respectively). Not that many but if you are an early bird chances are you will benefit from this initiative.


HOW DO I QUALIFY?

This is the excerpt from a lengthy PDF document produced by the ministry. To qualify, the applicant must be:

i) a Malaysian, and
ii) a domestic electricity user. That's all!

a) Refrigerators:

• Peninsular Malaysia – domestic consumers using an average of 6 months electricity consumption between 200 to 400 kWh per month

• Sabah and Sarawak - open to all domestic consumers

b) Air conditioners – open to all domestic consumers in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.


You are entitled to the rebate only once for each appliance, and this is valid for purchase of 5-Star refrigerators and air conditioners approved by Energy Commission. So, look out for the following labels:



If RM200 is not of an issue to you (it is to me), than this is obviously not for you but please help me and our mother earth to spread the news. Energy efficient equipment use less energy to produce the same level of comfort and they definitely leave less carbon footprint.

For complete list of appliances (Brands) that qualify for the rebate, visit EE Appliance Listing. The recommended retail prices are quite competitive.

To view the detailed information on the SAVE program and how you can claim your rebate, take a look at the ministry's SAVE Program Guidelines For Consumers.

Buy 5-Star aircon/fridge, save some money + pay less monthly utility bill = help mother earth survive another day.


Happy Saving!

It pays to go Green

Do you have electricity supply at your area? If yes, chances are you have some air-conditioners and fridges at home, or at least any of these two. If that is the case, the next piece of information might be of interest to you.

According to Bernama, the consumers can expect to get some kind of rebates for the purchase of high efficiency refrigerators, air-conditioners and chillers.

It is a Government initiative to encourage the use of energy-efficient appliances and to improve energy efficiency in Malaysia. Qualified consumers get a rebate of RM200 for new refrigerator and RM100 for an air-cond. It is said to cost the Government more than RM50 mil. in 2011, so I recon it will be going on for some time.

Energy-efficient household items are substantially more expensive - 30% to 50% more - but the rebates and the electricity consumed  could well justify purchase of such appliances.

The financial benefit can be realised (or ROI if you like) within two to four years depending on the level of efficiency of the item concerned. It mentioned qualified  in the press release but did not elaborate on the criteria for an item, or a consumer to be deemed qualified. My guess is that the Government will come out with the details in July 2011 when it announce the rebate for chillers in the commercial sector.

Let support the initiative and help mother earth avoid a little carbon emission. At the some time helping ourselves patching some small holes in our pockets. Our family currently uses nominal efficiency (non energy-efficient) air-conditioners and refrigerators but would seriously consider the high efficiency variants when the current ones are due for replacement.


Source: Up to RM200 rebates for energy-efficient appliances

More Incentives for Renewable Energy

[Picture from Google]

Firstly, my apologies for the slight mis-information in my previous article "Generate electricity at home and earn money".

In that article I stated "SESB will pay you up to RM1.75/unit for all “net” kWh your solar system feed-back to SESB grid"

Not so.

I met with Ungku Abdul Rahman (the Director of Power Technologies Sdn Bhd) a couple of days back and he mentioned that SESB will pay you the whole amount of energy produced at home and not the "net" kWH fed-back to their grid. Power Technologies S/B is one of the active turnkey Contractors for implementation of solar power systems in Malaysia. They are based in Shah Alam, Selangor.

What this means is that SESB will still bill you for the amount of energy consumed but at the same time pays you for whatever amount of energy generated by your home Solar System. This, according to him is the net effect of the recently enacted Renewable Energy (RE) Act 2010.

If you read my previous article, you might be pleasantly surprised that what you read in this updated article is a betterment of that information.

For example (previous figures re-used):

If your Solar System produced 200kWh this month and your energy consumption is 150kWH,

• SESB bills you : RM20.40 (40kWH x RM0.24, 110kWH x RM0.18)
• FIT, you get : RM350 (200kWH x RM1.75) RM1.75 is the max possible FIT rate.
• Your INCOME = RM329.60 (RM350.00 - RM20.40)

Of course you'll still need to service your bank loan, so, this "Income" is not net yet. I mentioned bank loan as you are eligible to take up financing from any of the commercial bank around for setting up of the residential solar system.

The initial capital expenditure looks daunting but taking into account the government incentive, the bank financing, the return of investment, the guaranteed 21 years of FIT, it really is worth looking into.

FIT: feed-in tariff

Dont' you think Malaysia is committed to its pledge to reduce the carbon emission to help mother earth live another day?

Generate electricity at home and earn money

Ever thought of running your home appliances without worrying about your utility bill? Really, in Malaysia? Isn't that the familiar catch line of a spam mail? Is it possible?

Short answer: Yes. It is possible.


Long answer:

Our monthly bill is about RM180 to RM250 monthly, depending on how energy-wise we are on a particular month. I would like to trim that to, say RM30 to RM50 or even zero without having to switch of my fridge, air-conditioners, and other energy guzzling equipment.

This is very much possible with the enactment of the Renewable Energy (RE) Act 2010. According to the RE Bill 2010, residential homes that produce solar energy could earn up to RM1.75 per kWh of electricity produced. Dewan Rakyat has approved the bill earlier this month and once it is enacted  (hopefully next month) it becomes a law. Let me explain.

1 kWh of electricity is 1 Unit of energy consumed as stated in our SESB bills. We are paying a tiered rates for domestic tariff, i.e. RM0.24/unit for the first 40 kWh and RM0.16/unit for the next 160 kWh, and RM0.28/unit for the remainder. If you are to install Solar PV System on your rooftop, SESB will pay you up to RM1.75/unit for the “net” kWh your solar system feed-back to SESB grid. Apparently not the "net kWh", read the Update HERE. (Kindly disregard the following example and explanation)

Interesting? For me, it is.

I say “net” as the energy that is fed back to the grid is the difference between energy that is produced by your home Solar PV System and the energy consumed by your home. Don’t worry about how it’s computed; SESB’s meter will do it for you.

Example:
If your Solar System produced 200kWh this month and your energy consumption is 150kWh then SESB owes you RM87.50 (50kWh x RM1.75). That is an income. But if your energy consumption is 220kWh then you’ll be billed RM4.80 (20kWh x RM0.24, tiered).

Without the Solar PV system, you pay SESB RM27.20 (150kWh x 0.24 & 0.16, tiered) and RM40.80 (220kWh x 0.24 & 0.16 & 0.28, tiered) respectively for the above cases.

For a complete electricity tariff check the SESB Tariff Structure and Rates.

The feed-in tariff works by giving you income when you feed in electricity to the power supplier (SESB) grid and only charge you when you consume more than what your Solar Power system produce.

This tariff is applicable if your Solar Power system is generating up to maximum of 4kWp. The 4kWp refers to the size of the solar power system and in most cases is sufficient to power up a semi-detached house. For installation of bigger than 4kWp, the feed-in tariff is slightly lower.

To give you an idea of how much you’d need to invest, a 1kWp system would cost you RM15,000 to set up, so, for a fairly sufficient capacity of 4kWp system for your bungalow you will need to fork out RM60,000 or perhaps slightly lower. Source: The Star Online

A bit expensive but the Bill has a provision for a guaranteed income for the next 21 years from the date of signing the agreement with your local power producers, such as TNB, SESB or SESCO. That is long enough a payback period and perhaps even outlast the lifespan of the solar panels.

Let’s hope the cost to install solar panels for residential homes drops dramatically when more people start adopting, plus declining cost of the technology.

It interests me and I may seriously consider this when the incentive is rolled out fully.


Further readings:

1) Higher income for home solar energy – The Star
2) Malaysia to start Feed-In Tariff (FIT) for Renewable Energy by 2011 - GK Sdn Bhd

SESB: Loss of revenue due to power theft

AWAS! Stealing electricity can kill! I will not elaborate but there was this recent case near us reported in the local newspaper.

Well, that's the least I can say about power theft. I can always report funny activities by unscrupulous individual or group to SESB but that is all. In fact that is the best we, the ordinary citizen can do. After that it's really down to the licence holder/s of power supply to act.

I read a recent news published by Bernama about power theft by squatters or immigrants in Tenom. SESB denied that this ever happened as "upon inspection" there was no connection (read no cable found, no trace of joint) to the Sport Complex.

Come on now! You can't go and inspect after it was already in the news. If I were to be that thief, I'd have remove all my cables and fittings by the time your personnel made a move. Surely the folks must've inform somebody at the regional office discreetly before going public.

There were cases of power theft by squatters near Arkib Negeri sometime ago and what SESB did was to remove the "hook" connectors on the overhead lines and as expected the illegal connection was intact again few days later. Can we not go to the root of the problem rather than treating just the symptoms. (this particular problem was solved by the construction of Ujana Rimba Tropika recreational park as there was no more space for the squatting houses). But what about the many other places that are still leaking precious energy?

REVENUE LOSS OF RM3 MILLION A YEAR! I'm quoting New Sabah Times.

That is what SESB quoted a couple of years ago regarding loss of revenue due to power theft in Sabah. That is a lot of money. Say a unit of energy cost RM0.30 on average. BTW our tariff is tiered so take this figure as approximation. With that kind of unpaid bill, the energy loss is about 11 million kWH.

That's not very green way to manage energy I'd say!

The 11mil kWH can power up:

1) Two 40-50 MLD of water treatment plant for a whole ONE year, or
2) Three 3/4-star hotel in Kota Kinabalu, such as Hyatt, Promenade, for ONE whole year, or
3) Two medium sized sawmills in Sandakan for ONE whole year!!

Why waste the precious energy when the state is faced with insufficient electrical power supply? Is it because the RM3mil is not my and your money? Well, it is partly mine and yours. Are we talking too much, pacifying, and forget about taking action once the hu-ha is over? It's a shame!

So, act on eradicating the power theft. Not just concentrating on disconnecting the supply of registered consumers after one or two month of default in payment. These are soft target so less resources is required to carry out enforcement.

I say go greener by putting effort to stop 10mil kWH of wastage and spare mother earth of further warming. At the same time save yourself a couple of million of Ringgit in the process.

Stop wasting, stop procrastinating and stop the power theft!

Semoga berjaya!

Go for Wind

That's right. If there's even a small potential for power generation through wind milling, w should go for it. It's one of the cleanest source of energy available, apart from solar cell and hydro-electric generator.

This year's Wind Power Asia (WPA) seminar was in Beijing, China, visited by a total of 15,065 visitors calling from 43 countries worldwide with some 445 exhibitors featured at the trade fair. Number of exhibiting companies has doubled compared to 2008. I really hope this is a sign of not just awareness of the general public about going green, but also commitment from all industry players in looking for cleaner energy solution.

Travelling to China is not that expensive anymore nowadays with Air Asia flying direct from KLIA. Next year's similar seminar/conference would be in June 2010, it would be very interesting to find out what's in store this year. Given the time and means, I would very much love to visit such event. For now, the nearest thing to look up to is the Low Energy Office initiative undertaken by SESB Kota Kinabalu. I understand that there are still a lot need to be done on the installation of solar panels at their Tanjung Aru show unit. Time to make a visit.

Take your pick:--

A. Coal plant (such as the one proposed in Lahad Datu), RM500mil?

B. Wind mills (such as the one mentioned for Pulau Banggi), or the ongoing Rural Solar project, RM1bil??

C. Possible tie-up of Hydro power gen from the controversial Kaiduan Dam project in Penampang, RM2.8bil?

Take some time out and think about where our billions of ringgit should go to.


I KNOW WHAT TO CHOOSE.

Low Energy Office

The Daily Express reported that Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd has set up a Low Energy Office, LEO, using solar power.

It was completed in March but announced to the public only last month.

At this stage solar power is supplying electricity only to the “test building” itself which is smaller but SESB aims to extend the usage of such alternative power supply to the main office building in the future. By the way, the LEO is located at their Tanjung Aru office.

What I can gather from their meet-the media session is somewhat vague and question-inviting information as follows:

53 watts        – is the energy that one PV cell (PV – photovoltaic) can produce.
RM18mil       – is required to generate 200kW of energy (to light up 400 houses).
RM100,000   – is the cost to build a roof solar panel system.
30 years       – is the typical lifespan of solar panel.

One can always debate these figures as cost of setting up solar power systems is becoming cheaper every year due to the various incentives from the Government and popularity of this clean energy source. In fact there are still a lot of variations to that figures if we compare them to those implemented at other places in Malaysia.

In any case, LEO is the way to go!

* picture - courtesy of D.Express

Tracking Your Electricity Consumption

In a news release by Reuters on 17th March 2009 (Nao Nakanishi), Google Inc is reported to roll out free software which allows consumers to track their home electricity use and improve energy efficiency very soon.

Google is said to be in talks with utility companies in US, Europe and Asia to make the product available shortly to general consumers. Google Inc would use its software skills for the program that will show home energy consumption in real time on a user's computer or a telephone.

It was mentioned that according to the company, studies showed that by having access to home energy information, one can typically saves between 5% and 15% on monthly electricity bills.

As a tech savvy myself and being familiar with several other tools, this is very much a welcomed development. For a typical household monthly bill of RM250 (moderate estimate for a family with air-conditioners, automatic washing machine, fridge, audio-visual electrical appliances, etc.) one can save up to RM300 annually on electricity bills.

This is not including savings from replacing energy-guzzling equipments as a result of information gained from the usage of the software. It would be very interesting to know if the software would include predictive maintenance of equipments and appliances, including giving users some idea on performance curves, energy consumption projection, cost of replacement, and ROI in the case that one should purchase a greener (energy saving) replacement.

If the domestic consumers can save energy this way, I am convinced the bigger - the industry - consumers can save much more. Based on an integrated study I was involved in on facilities of utility company, it is possible to save energy up to 20% of the monthly bills.