Accra:Demand for renewable energy under the Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) is expected to remain strong despite the revision of the system access charge.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, corporate decarbonisation commitments and increasing electricity demand from data centres are factors supporting this resilience. An additional charge of four sen per kilowatt-hour, incurred by green consumers, is not expected to significantly impact project economics for renewable energy developers. This is because the all-in tariff remains approximately 20% lower than current grid electricity rates. As a result, off-takers are anticipated to continue with CRESS agreements to ensure long-term green tariffs and reduce exposure to potential future increases in grid electricity prices.

The government's requirement for a minimum 30% renewable energy usage for data centres, coupled with rising electricity needs in the sector, is expected to further bolster CRESS adoption. RHB Investment Bank Bhd has maintained its "overweight" rating on the renewable energy sector, highlighting Tenaga Nasional Bhd, YTL Power International Bhd, Samaiden Group Bhd, and Solarvest Holdings Bhd as preferred choices. The bank also views the recent share price declines in Samaiden and Solarvest following the system access charge revision as an investment opportunity, considering that the additional cost will be absorbed by corporate consumers rather than developers.

MBSB Investment Bank Bhd also noted that the revised system access charge is unlikely to significantly reduce interest from corporate offtakers in CRESS, especially among data centre operators and large firms with strong decarbonisation goals. The revised charge structure is intended to ensure that corporate consumers using the national grid for renewable energy share the infrastructure costs, which include transmission, system balancing, network capacity, and backup supply.

Illustrative calculations by MBSB IB show that an ultra-high-voltage consumer using 48 million kWh of electricity monthly, with 18 million kWh sourced through CRESS, would see a monthly electricity bill of RM28 million under the acceleration package. This compares to RM28.4 million under the previous CRESS arrangement and RM28.8 million without CRESS, resulting in overall electricity cost savings of 2.6% under the acceleration package versus 1.4% under the prior setup. Despite the modest savings, the Energy Commission's focus is on determining the appropriate distribution of infrastructure costs rather than merely reducing renewable energy prices. MBSB IB maintains a positive outlook for the renewable energy subsector, emphasizing the strategic importance of securing long-term green electricity supply amidst increasing power requirements for data centres and corporate decarbonisation efforts.