Over 60 participants attended a workshop on the Brunei Darussalam National Climate Change Policy (BNCCP) Operational Document Taskforce (ODTF) Workshop from September 2-3 at the Atria Simpur Hall of the Public Works Department.
Permanent Secretary (Energy) at the Ministry of Energy (ME) Haji Azhar bin Haji Yahya, who is also Chairman of the Executive Committee on Climate Change, officiated the workshop.
The ME is the lead agency for BNCCP Strategy 4.
Key stakeholders including government departments, private companies, associations, higher institutions and key industry players took part in the workshop.
BNCCP Strategy 4 seeks to ensure a smooth transition for nationwide adoption and use of renewable energy technologies. The workshop offered an inclusive, robust and coherent roadmap – outlining a detailed action plan, key performance indicators (KPIs), timelines and key enablers – to achieve the increasing total share target of renewable energy to at least 30 per cent of the total capacity in the power generation mix by 2035.
Renewable energy is also a part of the ME strategic plan and one of the main goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Agenda (under UNSDG 7), thus further justifying the development of the BNCCP Strategy 4’s roadmap towards a low carbon and resilient Brunei Darussalam.
At present, renewable energy makes up about 0.14 per cent of the total power generation capacity from the 1.2MW Tenaga Suria Brunei (TSB) Solar PV Plant in Seria. The ME, through the Department of Electrical Services and the Ministry of Development, has initiated small- to medium-scale Solar PV rooftop installations in Temburong District since April.
The ME has also embarked on net-metering pilot programmes to allow individuals to export excess power from their solar PV generation to the national grid. This pilot programme will continue until the second quarter of next year. Once completed, it will be open to the public.
Apart from Solar PV, the ME also leads a feasibility study on the potential of wind energy.
The two-day workshop was co-facilitated by the ME and the Petroleum Authority of Brunei Darussalam, and supported by the Brunei Climate Change Secretariat.