Dynamics of Renewable Energy Penetration for the Malaysian Electricity Generation

Renewable energy penetration varies largely for different countries. A combination of factors, such as weather, availability of resources, technological level, politics, economic strength, and many others, play a role in deciding the level of renewables penetration. Malaysia, a country with a tropical climate, holds promising potential for a variety of renewable energy types, namely solar, biomass, hydroelectric, and wind. While renewables are encouraged for all countries to adopt, in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 7, expanding carelessly would yield unintended consequences, especially for a developing nation such as Malaysia. As the deployment and expansion of renewable energies is a complex problem, this study utilizes a systems approach, namely system dynamics, to model and simulate the behaviors of identified key indicators for the prediction of penetration of renewable energies in Malaysia. Results show that renewable energy growth in the country cannot keep up with its economic growth and nonrenewable counterpart but could be useful in slowing down conventional energy expansions as long as there are available renewable resources.