PUTRAJAYA (Jan 16): The government has announced enhancements to the Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS), opening third-party electricity grid access to existing power consumers and maintaining system access charges (SAC) at current rates for three years.

These changes, effective March 1, 2025, will ensure SAC variation rates remain capped at 15% per regulatory period, said the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (Petra) in a statement.

SAC charges, or wheeling charges, have been set at 45 sen/kWh to 'wheel' electricity from a solar farm to its corporate consumer, or 25 sen/kWh when the arrangement is equipped with battery storage.

Under the incentive-based regulation imposed on the power industry, the current fourth regulatory period is effective from 2025 to 2027 (RP4).

The variation cap is set to foster cost predictability for renewable electricity investors, said Petra, which expects these adjustments to encourage wider corporate adoption of renewable energy solutions.

It also anticipates the improved structure will attract significant interest from corporates looking for stable and accessible green energy solutions.

CRESS, launched as part of Malaysia’s broader energy transition efforts, offers corporations access to renewable electricity via third-party providers. It was previously only opened up to new consumers, or existing consumers but for new capacity only.

In the same statement, Petra said two green electricity supply agreements have been signed under CRESS, namely between Khazanah-backed energy group UEM Lestra and Asia-focused logistic properties manager ESR Group Ltd, and between Tenaga Nasional Bhd (KL:TENAGA) and Bridge Data Centre for 400MW.

Under the existing scheme, UEM Lestra has committed to supply renewable electricity to ESR through third-party grid access, while TNB Renewables has secured a 400MW agreement with Bridge Data Centre. Both agreements represent the early successes of the CRESS initiative, first launched on Sept 20, 2024.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, who is also energy transition and water transformation minister, officiated the exchange of documents between UEM Lestra and ESR at an event coinciding with the launch of the MyEnergyStats portal by the Energy Commission.

The portal is aimed at improving transparency and access to energy data in Malaysia.

The enhanced programme will attract more corporate interest and provide assurance on long-term electricity costs, strengthening the nation’s renewable energy framework, Petra added.