Ministry, Energy Commission launch websites to shed light on power industry

KUALA LUMPUR: The Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry (KeTTHA) and the Energy Commission (EC) have launched two websites in a bid to disseminate operational and planning information on the electricity supply situation to members of the public and industry players.
The Single Buyer (SB) and the Grid System Operator (GSO) websites will not however share information which is deemed confidential under the purchase of electricity contracts between Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) and the independent power producers (IPPs).
“Customers will be more informed of the intricacies of electric power system planning and operation with the data and information shared within the respective websites,” the EC said in a statement today.
As ring-fenced entities, SB and GSO are required by the industry to demonstrate transparency, independence and non-discriminatory conduct in its operations. The establishment of the websites in order to publish relevant real-time operation information publicly is seen as one way to achieve this.
From the SB’s website, consumers can get information on historical and forecast energy demand, highest demand, highest energy recorded and more, while the GSO’s website publishes data for Peninsular Malaysia’s grid system, comprising power station information, system generation and demand profiles, fuel mix and tie-line data, and system constraints.
The operational data is automatically updated in real time. Any additional publication will be updated regularly for example, information regarding system constraint is updated weekly. Over time, more information is expected to be added to both websites.
For industry players, there will be special privileges to apply for an account with this platform, in order to access operation data specific to their business portfolio.
To recap, the EC separated the operations of SB and GSO from other activities of TNB via the enforcement of the Electricity Supply Act (Amendment) 2015, which came into force on Jan 1, 2016.
Under this arrangement, SB and GSO now operate autonomously where their functions, operations and performance are under the supervision and regulations of the EC.
SB is responsible for the management of electricity purchasing from power generation plants while GSO is responsible for the day-to-day real-time operation and management of the Peninsular Malaysia grid system operation including interconnections with Thailand and Singapore.