Telecom Industry Struggling To Secure Sustainable Renewable Energy

By Nur Athirah Mohd Shaharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 (Bernama) -- The telecommunications industry is grappling with challenges in securing renewable energy (RE) supply, largely due to the limited availability of sustainable green energy sources, said Edotco Group Sdn Bhd chief executive officer (CEO) Mohamed Adlan Ahmad Tajudin.

He emphasised that having a sufficient supply of RE is crucial to support a smooth transition to the green economy.

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One of the major challenges in RE supply is the lack of supporting infrastructure, he said, noting that some South Asian countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar are facing power grid issues.

“Some of them have an unstable power grid system while some areas do not even have a power grid,” he told Bernama at the ‘Forward Faster Now: Asia and Oceania Summit’ earlier this week.

The summit was organised by the United Nations Global Compact, in collaboration with 16 Global Compact Country Networks and country offices in the Asia and Oceania region.

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While some countries offer mechanisms to ensure that power drawn from the grid is renewable, the supply remains limited, said Mohamed Adlan.

In Malaysia, businesses can subscribe to Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), benefit from Feed-In Tariff (FIT) schemes, or install solar panels under the Net Energy Metering mechanism.

“However, the supply of RE is still limited at this time and it is on a ‘first-come-first-serve’ basis,” he said, adding that generating clean energy can be a costly endeavour, leading to premium pricing.

Given Malaysia’s sunny disposition, solar energy has become a key player in the nation’s green energy transition, helping to reduce carbon emissions and fuel consumption.

“In some of our (foreign) markets where we operate, solarisation helped Edotco to cut fuel consumption by about 50 per cent and reduce carbon emissions by 49 per cent annually, in addition to lowering our operating expenditure,” he said.

During the High-Level CEO Opening Panel Discussion at the two-day summit which ended on Aug 6, Mohamed Adlan expressed Edotco's commitment to collaborating with regulators to advance RE policies.

He also highlighted customer readiness to adopt sustainable energy as another challenge, underscoring the importance of close collaboration and transparent communication for successful outcomes.

“It is crucial to work closely with our customers throughout this journey, ensuring transparency and open discussions on all matters,” he added.

Established in 2012, EDOTCO Group is the first regional and integrated telecommunications infrastructure services company in Asia, providing end-to-end solutions in the tower services sector, ranging from tower leasing, build-to-suit, energy and transmission to operations and maintenance.

The group operates and manages a regional portfolio of over 58,000 towers across Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Laos.

-- BERNAMA