Brunei is looking into the prospect of introducing 100 hybrid and electric vehicles this year as a start to make them more competitive with petrol cars, the Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office said in an interview with The Oil & Gas Year Brunei 2012.
The stride taken in the transportation sector is an overall initiative of programmes to increase awareness of the importance of Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC).
Programmes to increase awareness of the importance of EEC will also be done at schools, Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Hj Mohammad Yasmin Hj Umar said, so that young people become EEC ambassadors.
He added initiatives needed to be undertaken to encourage the public to use electricity-efficient equipment.
“EEC is one of our priorities because based on true market value, we are spending $2 billion a year to meet the country’s overall energy demand and this is expected to grow to more than $5 billion by 2035, under the Business As Usual (BAU) case,” YB Pehin Dato Hj Mohd Yasmin said.
The minister said according to the United Nations (UN) Common Data Base for 2001, Brunei’s energy consumption per capita is among the highest worldwide, ranking 12th out of 198 countries and top of the Association of South East Asian Nations.
This, he said, was not sustainable and that there was a huge scope to improve EEC.
“Our strategy will address the production in terms of improved efficiency in power generation and consumption in terms of usage especially in residential, which uses half of total power generated as well as in the transport sector,” YB Pehin Dato Hj Mohd Yasmin said.
The minister said Brunei is aiming to reduce its energy intensity by 45 per cent by 2035. This is in line with the pledges by Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum leaders in the 2011 Honolulu Declaration.
YB Pehin Dato Hj Mohd Yasmin also spoke of a study on alternative energy commissioned by the Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies, which has identified several potential sources of energy including solar, wind, hydro, ocean and biomass. EEC, he said, is a whole new avenue of expertise and skills which can be tapped into by businesses and provide a potential new source of job creation.
Speaking on power generation, the minister said Brunei has commissioned its first photovoltaic solar power plant: Tenaga Suria Brunei, at Seria.
At 1.2 Megawatt, it supplies power to about 200 homes. “It is a small but important first step in the development of renewable energy sources. We are committed to maximising the utilisation of combined-cycle power plants, convert existing simple-cycle power plants to combined cycle and also to expand existing cogeneration plants with heat recovery and steam generators.”
