The Authority Lead by Example in EE & RE

ENERGY MANAGEMENT & EFFICIENCY

The Authority as the one of agencies who is responsible in providing technical facilitation as well as promoting the sustainable energy in Malaysia has initiated the energy management in the Authority’s Headquarter located in Putrajaya. The initiative was started in 2015 by in-house expertise of the Authority.

Various Energy Management initiatives had helped the Authority in achieving the Building Energy Index (BEI) of 51 kWh/m2/year (Zero Energy Building ZEB Ready), compared to 220 to 300 kWh/m2/year for a typical office building in Malaysia and electricity bill ≈ RM2,000/mth. This translated to savings of almost 74,143.45 kWh per year (at least RM38,000 per annum) and avoided 50 tons per year of carbon emissions.

The summary of BEI achievement for the Authority’s HQ

Energy management measures should not be viewed as an expense, but as an investment with utility savings that add up over the service life of the building. By doing so, the Authority managed to achieve a significant savings in electricity bills throughout the year in comparison with the conventional buildings in Malaysia. Furthermore, the savings will only increase over time as energy prices rise in Malaysia. The yearly continuous decreasing pattern of electricity bill is tabulated as below:

Electricity bill for The Authority

 Some of the initiatives taken by the Authority are:

No cost measures:

 

  • The formation of Energy Management (EM) committee that is a part of the Authority’s Jawatankuasa Keselamatan, Kesihatan Pekerjaan dan Pengurusan Tenaga (JKPPT), subsequently led to the formation of Energy Policy in the Authority;
  • Continuous energy management awareness programme to the Authority’s staff include in-house talk on energy management, frequent dissemination information on energy saving in office and initiative as simple as EE savings tips label; 
  • Lighting switches mapping for all office areas in the Authority;
  • Schedule in-house energy audit in the Authority by its staff;
  • Energy Management awareness signs and labels for office appliances and behaviour;
  • Temperature setting of air-conditioning to 24 degree Celsius; and 
  • Energy management practices such as switching off the lighting and office equipment during lunch hour.

Low Cost Measures:

  • Delamping, Rezoning and LED lights replacement and installation of pull cord light by stages; 
  • Installation of online power monitoring system to understand the pattern and the real time data on energy consumption;
  • Gradually replacement of the split unit air conditioning at the server room, to energy efficient VRV units;
  • The replacement of faulty air conditioning from conventional to inverter system air condition (AC); and 
  • Installation of motion sensors in areas of lesser use (printing room and walkway). 

Medium and High Cost Measures:

  • Installation of air-conditioning split unit for low functional area (dining room, meeting room and auditorium);
  • Procurement of energy efficient office equipment (laptop, printer and pantry appliances); and 
  • Installation of solar PV system of 16 kWp at the roof top of the Authority’s office.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Solar PV System @ the Authority, 16 kWp

Since the Authority’s establishment in 2011, the Authority has granted approvals to more than 10,000 renewable energy installations in Malaysia. It is timely for the Authority to lead by example by installing solar PV system at the headquarter of the Authority located in Putrajaya. In 2019, the Authority installed a 16kW solar PV system on the rooftop of Galeria PjH . This PV system will also link to the PVMS managed by the Authority. Importantly, this PV project will be part of the Authority’s on-site training facility providing online data for analysis and opportunity to showcase PV for office application to visitors and training participants.

The PV project for the Authority started on 1st October 2019 and successfully commissioned on 31st December 2019. The total installed capacity is 16kWp and the energy generated is connected to the Authority’s Main Distribution Board. The solar PV system is installed based on the Self-Consumption (SELCO) as the bulk meter of the building will not support NEM configuration. In future, this restriction should be addressed so buildings with bulk meter can participate in the NEM scheme.

It is estimated that the 16kWp solar PV system could generate about 19,200kWh/year with about 13,324.8kg of CO2 avoidance per year. Below is the technical and design specification for the Authority’s 16kW solar PV system:

No.InstallationDescription 
1Solar Panel  - 400Wp x 40 units of Mono-crystalline Class II PERC Half-Cell Module 
- Each module has 72 cells 
- Nominal efficiency is 19.5%
- 4 strings configuration with 10 solar panels per string
- Manufacturer : JA Solar
2Inverter  - 1 unit of 15kVA Multi -MPPT String Inverter from Sungrow 
- Efficiency at nominal power is 98.6% 
3Weather Station  - 1 unit of Rainwise Pvmet200 weather station 
- Can capture windspeed, irradiation and module temperature data 
4Zero Export Energy  1 unit of Weidmuller zero energy meter 
5Solar PV Data Logger  1 unit of Solar-Log 1200 from Solar Log 

The Aerial View of The Authority’s 16 KW Solar PV System Installation

Project installation by appointed contractor

Briefing by Project team to the staff of the Authority