KUALA TERENGGANU, June 6 — Terengganu has the potential to develop the decarbonisation industry by capitalising on the abandoned oil wells as these sources are decreasing at present.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the state is among those that has the largest oil well fields and the exploration of the new sector would enable the oil and gas industry to transform to the green industry.
“Terengganu has a huge potential, as one of the components in energy transition or green technology is how we decarbonise the economy. We have a high carbon content which contributes to the increase in temperature, and others.
“Countries which are able to decarbonise are seen at the forefront. Hence, to secure investments in the future, Malaysia must be at the forefront as a green technology transition centre in the region.
“One of the sectors that is being worked on by the federal government now is in terms of the country’s leadership in green technology, as in this region there’s no country that is really taking the leadership (in green industry),” he said.
He said this in a media conference after an engagement session on the Mid-Term Review of the 12th Malaysia Plan by the Economy Ministry together with the Terengganu government here, today.
Rafizi said the decarbonisation process could be done by extracting carbon from the atmosphere or injecting carbon imported from other countries into the abandoned oil wells, using carbon, capture and storage (CCS) technology.
During the 2020-2021 period, the largest investments in the world were in green technology, he noted.
Rafizi said, nevertheless, towards realising the aspiration to progress the decarbonisation industry, the country must first expedite the enactment of related laws as guidelines for the investors.
“Based on existing plans, it is expected that the first decarbonisation facility in Kerteh would be operational in 2030.
“But one thing we can do at the Economy Ministry level and the government must accelerate the legislation to regulate the decarbonisation activities…I expect (it to be) earlier than 2030, that is, it could start operations by 2028,” he said.
