USM PENANG, 25 July 2023 – Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC) Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad was very impressed with Universiti Sains Malaysia’s (USM) commitment to utilise renewable energy for sustainable development in its campuses in the long run.

“We were told that USM had developed the Energy Saving Initiative project in 2013 and it is part of efforts to achieve the concept of a sustainable campus through the development of renewable energy generation infrastructure on the campus.

“This initiative managed to reduce the university’s annual utility costs from RM18 million in 2014 to RM12 million in 2022.

“The project, implemented through the installation of photovoltaic solar systems on the campus, is now estimated to represent over 30 per cent of the total energy usage on the USM main campus in Penang, which is equivalent to about 10 MWp,” he said.

He added that apart from saving money, efforts to upgrade the energy generation ecosystem on the campus also helped reduce the rate of carbon dioxide (CO₂) pollution in the environment.

Nik Nazmi and the delegation from his ministry and the Energy Commission had made a working visit to USM’s main campus here on 19 July 2023 to observe the development of energy-saving initiatives on the campus.

“The NRECC welcomes success stories regarding efficient policies and energy transition, especially in institutions of higher learning (IPTs) which are the centres of knowledge sharing at the highest level among the local community.

“As the head of the NRECC delegation, I would like to thank everyone at USM, especially the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohamed and  the top management, for USM’s far-sightedness, awareness and commitment to realising the agenda of sustainability on its campus,” he said.

In relation to that, all campuses nationwide have been urged to jointly pioneer new energy generation ideas and initiatives to create an energy-sensitive society in efforts to protect the sustainability of the energy industry and the environment in the country.