SYNOPSIS

The passing of the Renewable Energy Act 2011 and the introduction of the Feed in Tariff (FIT) has resulted in RE projects taking off in a big way in Malaysia. However, almost a year after the launch, many of these RE projects are far behind schedule and quite a number have even failed to start. The FIT implementing agency, SEDA Malaysia, closely monitors those projects which have been granted approval and will terminate projects which fail to meet their declared milestones without strong grounds, resulting in big losses for the developers. Among the major obstacles is the lack of project financing since local banks are new to RE technology, lack of understanding of the technology by the developers themselves, and most importantly, project management techniques which may not be suited to this new technology and the implementation approach taken by SEDA Malaysia.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Ir. Ali Askar Sher Mohamad graduated with a BSc (Electrical Engineering) from Purdue University, West Lafayette, and a Masters in Power Engineering from UNSW, Sydney. He has served TNB in various capacities, including Planning Engineer, Project Manager, District Manager and HRD Manager. He taught at Uniten from 2009 to 2011, teaching renewable energy and power systems subjects to Masters and undergraduate students. In Uniten he was involved in Power System Studies and Feasibility Studies for various renewable energy plants, including hydro, solar PV and biomass.

Ir.Ali acted as the Technical Advisor to KETTHA on RE generation grid connection issues and related legislation. In November 2011, he was appointed the Chief Operating Officer of the newly set up SEDA Malaysia. He is currently pursuing his PhD research on the technical impact of connecting large scale solar PV plants to the medium voltage grid. Ir. Ali is a member of the Publication Committee of the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), as well as being a panel member of the Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC). He is also active in the Electrical Engineering Technical Division
of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM).