Renewable Energy: Feed-In Appeal Regulations Gazetted
04 November 2019
The Renewable Energy Act 2011 (‘Act”), among others, permits a person to apply to the Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia (‘SEDA’) for a feed-in approval. SEDA may –
- approve or reject the application (section 7);
- in approving an application, impose such additional conditions (over and above the standard conditions) as it deems fit (section 8); and
- at any time impose additional conditions or vary any conditions imposed on a feed-in approval (section 9);
- revoke a feed-in approval on any of the grounds set out in section 10 after giving the feed-in approval holder an opportunity to make written submissions within the period, being not less than 30 days, specified in SEDA’s notice of intention to revoke the feed-in approval (section 10).
Section 11 of the Act provides that any person who is aggrieved by the decision of SEDA under sections 7, 9 or 10 of the Act may, within 30 days of being notified of the decision, appeal to the Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (‘Minister’) in the prescribed manner.
Pursuant to sections 11 and 60(d) of the Act, the Minister has on 1 November 2019 gazetted the
Renewable Energy (Manner of Appeal) Regulations 2019 (‘Regulations’) which prescribe the requirements relating to an appeal to be submitted to the Minister against the decision of SEDA –
- in refusing an application for a feed-in approval under section 7;
- in imposing any additional conditions or varying or revoking any conditions imposed on a feed-in approval under section 9; or
- in revoking a feed-in approval under section 10.
The notice of appeal by the appellant shall –
- be in writing in Bahasa Malaysia and may be accompanied by a translation in the English language;
- be accompanied by a copy of the decision appealed against;
- state the grounds of appeal;
- contain an address where any document relating to the appeal may be served upon the appellant; and
- be signed by the appellant.
The Regulations also require the appellant to serve a copy of the notice of appeal on SEDA.
The Regulations also require SEDA to submit to the Minister (but not the appellant) a statement of the grounds of its decision within 14 days of its receipt of the appellant’s notice of appeal.
The Minister shall decide on the appeal after considering the grounds of appeal stated in the appellant’s notice of appeal and the grounds of decision in the statement submitted by SEDA. Pursuant to section 11(2) of the Act, the Minister may confirm, reverse or vary the decision by SEDA.
The decision of the Minister on the appeal is to be communicated to the appellant by SEDA through a written notice within seven days of SEDA being notified of the Minister’s decision.
Section 11(3) of the Act stipulates that the decision of the Minister is final and binding.
It should be noted that the Act only applies to Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah.