Ex Mb Past Govts Stymied Johor Renewable Energy Due To S Pore Rivalry

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PARLIAMENT | Malaysia's rivalry with Singapore had led to the previous administrations stymying efforts to develop renewable energy and data centre projects in the state, former Johor menteri besar Hasni Mohammad revealed today.
Hasni (BN-Simpang Renggam) said this was because the government then did not want Singapore to benefit from such development in Johor.
"Johor wanted to develop many renewable energy initiatives, develop solar farms... we wanted to build data centres.
"Unfortunately, at the time, the government's policy is that Johor should not develop too many data centres or renewable energy.
"Because they were worried that we would export the excess energy generated to Singapore, benefiting the island-state, make them more advanced in inviting giant corporations like Google and Amazon (to invest)," he said in the Dewan Rakyat today, while debating the royal address.
Hasni did not specify which previous governments had such a policy, and whether this had taken place when he was serving as menteri besar or a state exco member.
Hasni's tenure as menteri besar from Feb 2020 to March 2022 spanned the administrations of both Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He had previously served as the Johor exco member in charge of public works, rural and regional development - from 2013 to 2018 when Najib Abdul Razak was prime minister.
On that note, Hasni appealed to the current government to broaden its renewable energy policy and not be afraid of competition, even with Singapore.
He added that to be on par with Singapore in terms of hosting data centres, the source of energy needed to be clean and powered by renewable energy.
Malaysia's primary source of electricity generation at the moment is coal. - Mkini

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