Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA)

1. The Introduction Of Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) Into The Malaysian Renewable Energy Industry

2. To understand how VPPA works, it is helpful to firstly establish how a Power Purchase Agreement ("PPA") works in our current ecosystem. In Malaysia, we are more than familiar with how conventional PPAs operate with it being established in Malaysia since the mid-1990s. 

3. Generally, PPA is an agreement between a solar power producer ("SPP") and Tenaga Nasional Berhad ("TNB") as the distribution licensee for the sale and purchase of electricity generated by the SPP. The electricity produced by the SPP's solar photovoltaic ("solar PV") would be physically transmitted into the local grid (owned by TNB) and such electricity would then be sold by TNB to end users/consumers3.

4. Furthermore, Net Energy Metering Scheme ("NEM") was introduced in 2016 which allowed consumers to enter into direct PPA with SPPs/investors. Under NEM, investors install and operate solar PVs (which are owned by the investors) on the consumers' premises and the electricity produced can be sold (via a PPA) directly to the consumers at a rate agreed between both parties with excess electricity sold to TNB4.

5. VPPA on the other hand, also known as Synthetic PPA, differ from the conventional PPA as it does not actually concern the transmission of the physical energy (electrons) produced by the solar PVs. As its name suggests, the supply of electricity is done virtually rather than physically. In other words, consumers continue to receive their electricity from local utility providers and the SPP will continue to sell electricity which they produce to local utility providers.

UK-Malaysia 2023 Trade and Investment Trends

1. The UK has been investing in Malaysia for the past 60 years, in fact, it was the leading FDI investor in Malaysia for its initial several years after independence. However, by the mid-1980s, for numerous reasons, the UK was overtaken by Japan (focused on the electronics industry) and Singapore (increasing trade linkages) in FDI investment. These FDI trends have accelerated in today’s rapidly evolving multi-polar greening world, led by technology and digitization. 

2. Within the past decade, not only has UK interest in FDI in Malaysia declined, three of the UK’s largest companies have made significant exits. Conversely, Malaysia has become an increasingly active investor in the UK over the past decade and is currently leading two of the UK’s leading infrastructure projects. In spite of these developments, both countries house large, international businesses which combined with their financial markets can assist both countries in developing future growth. 

Cambodia SDG Investor Map launched to accelerate sustainable development

1. New market intelligence tool identifies 15 Investment Opportunity Areas guiding the private sector to focus on SDG priority sectors that could benefit from expanded financing options.

2. The Cambodia SDG Investor Map, a market intelligence tool that identifies viable Investment Opportunity Areas aligned with the Cambodia Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), was launched by the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with the support of the Centre for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP) established by Temasek Trust. 

COP27: How countries compare on carbon emissions and pledges

1. Energy Monitor tracked the latest carbon emissions data to see how far the world is from reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

2. The beginning of COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, means a year has passed since the world agreed to “keep 1.5°C alive” at the COP26 UN climate conference in Glasgow. Over the course of the intervening year, however, that tentative note of collective optimism – and Covid-19’s carbon emissions reductions – have been overtaken by geopolitics and a global energy crisis.

3. Data reveals the transition to clean energy continues at a record pace, partly out of this new ambition for energy security. Some 257GW of renewable electricity capacity was installed in 2021, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). In China, the five-year plan for 2021–25 will add 874GW of solar and wind capacity to the grid – equivalent to the entire electrical network of Europe. The Inflation Reduction Act in the US means the country’s wind power capacity should double, and solar power capacity quadruple, by 2030.

4. Energy Monitor tracked the latest carbon emissions data: the fundamental metric that determines our progress in addressing climate change. In doing so, we can see just how far the world is from reaching the ambition laid out in the 2015 Paris Agreement: net-zero emissions by mid-century, which is what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says is required for a good chance of keeping global warming to the “safe” limit of 1.5°C.