KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 25): The Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Progressive Regulatory Framework Bill will be tabled in Parliament in November.
Economy Minister Mohd Rafizi Ramli said that with Asia expected to account for 50% of global CCUS demand by 2050, Malaysia is positioning itself to capitalise on its technical capabilities and region-leading storage sites.
“We are going to Parliament in November to table a robust regulatory framework that is benchmarked against international standards,” he told the audience at the opening ceremony of Oil & Gas Asia (OGA) 2024.
CCUS is one of six critical levers under the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR), which was launched last year. Flagship projects under NETR are expected to attract more than RM25 billion in investments across each of these six levers.
The government has also signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with other countries to build momentum for next year’s bidding round for CCUS projects. This move, Rafizi said, could generate over 200,000 jobs and add around US$250 billion (RM1 trillion) in gross value over the next 30 years.
Last month, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) partnered with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and UK-based Storegga to jointly study and develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities in the Penyu basin, offshore Peninsular Malaysia.
The partnership is aimed at achieving at least five million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage capacity by 2030.
Meanwhile, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) (KL:TNB) said in November last year that it is exploring CCS and hydrogen-based generation solutions to address the sustainable electricity consumption needs of Malaysia’s growing energy-guzzling data centre industry.
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