Comparison of new and previous Net Energy Metering (NEM) scheme in Malaysia

Abstract

Net Energy Metering (NEM) scheme was introduced in Malaysia in 2016 to replace the previous Feed in Tariff (FIT) scheme. NEM allows electricity consumers to generate, use and export the net excess energy to the grid. For the net excess energy exported to the grid, the consumer will be paid base on the displaced cost per kWh unit. However, after two years of implementation, not many consumers engaged with the NEM scheme as compared to the previous FIT scheme due to the poor financial return. Beginning 2019, new NEM scheme (NEM 2019) is introduced to replace the previous NEM 2016 scheme. This paper will investigate the potential financial return of the new NEM 2019 in term of net present cost (NPC) and electricity cost savings. The analysis is conducted by using HOMER software on three different size of residential customers; large, medium and small. Different photovoltaic (PV) panel sizes ranging from 1kWp to 8kWp were used in the analysis. The results show that the NEM 2019 produced lower NPC as compared to NEM 2016 for most cases.