BANGI, Selangor: The government will launch a framework on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) standards by year-end to help local companies transition into renewable energy (RE), said International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
Tengku Zafrul said the framework would focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to help them in terms of funding and capacity building for export.
"A lot of our export markets are asking exporters to be ESG-compliant, so we need to prepare our companies, especially our SMEs to transition to be more ESG-compliant.
"The framework involves consultations with the industry as well. We want to be fair because we do not want to come out with a policy that is not in line with what the industry is ready for," he told reporters after the launch of Malaysia's first battery energy storage system (BESS) for RE here today.
BESS was developed by Citaglobal Genetec Sdn Bhd, a special-purpose vehicle formed by Citaglobal Bhd and Genetec Technology Bhd.
The launch showcased the fully operational 1 megawatt BESS prototype (MYBESS) that was successfully developed and piloted in December 2022, and currently supports the Genetec EPIC plant's energy needs.
Tengku Zafrul said the development of Malaysia's homegrown MYBESS would support Malaysia's future RE security.
He said the development was also an important opportunity to begin positioning Malaysia in high-technology industries and higher in the global value-chain.
"The time to act is now, and through the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 which will be launched later in the year, the ministry is taking bold steps to enhance our industrial ecosystem. This is underscored by key considerations such as ESG compliance and future industrial energy sufficiency," he said.
Citaglobal Genetec chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said the combined strengths of both Citaglobal and Genetec had enabled the company to go-to-market with a very compelling end-to-end BESS solution.
Norza said the solution catered to different industry verticals, especially in grid integration to manage intermittent renewable energy resources which remains a challenge today.
"In addition to supporting national and international infrastructure energy needs, our readiness positions us competitively to enable faster-time-to-market deployment," he added.