Scenario and Strategy towards Energy Efficiency in Malaysia: A Review

Malaysia is among the highest consumers in term of consumption and intensity of energy per capita in Asia. Malaysia’s final energy consumption had increased from 13 million toe in 1990 to about 41 million toe in 2010, reflecting an annual average growth rate of 6%. Despites aggressive energy efficiency drives implemented for last 20 years, Malaysia has not shown any improvement in term of energy consumption and conservation. The Lower than anticipated results under previous energy efficiency initiatives had forced The Malaysian government to launch National Energy Efficiency Action Plan for 10 year implementation period of 2016-2025 (NEEAP) after taking into account the socio-culture, policy, financial, and administration barriers. The objective of this paper is to review Malaysian experience in their energy efficiency initiatives in comparison with other leading nations. Study reveals that overlapping and interchangeable terms for energy efficiency, energy conservation and renewable energy approaches under NEEAP causes confusion during implementation and monitoring which raise the need for reinterpretation of the programme initiatives. The barriers are not only isolated for Malaysian context but also common problems experienced by other countries. This offer opportunities for leapfrogging and knowledge sharing for improving any possible measures under three major initiatives for equipment, industrial and building programmes as outlined under the NEEAP. Some suggestions are made in this paper as measures to improve the delivery mechanism