Pico hydropower (PHP) development in Malaysia: Potential, present status, barriers and future perspectives

Present day, the environmental issues and the insufficiency of energy supply are of major concerns around the world. In view of this, numerous utilities have interchanged their production sources and path ways to green and renewable energy. The hydropower (HP) is the world's largest and the most efficient sustainable way to produce electricity or power. Nowadays, HP is employed for converting 90% of the energy of moving water into electricity/power. This can be comparable to the fossil fuels (FFs) based power plants, which are maximum only 60% efficient. The high expenditure and adverse environmental concerns that associated with the use of large HP plants have helped to focus the attention on small or Pico-scale HP plants, which reduce these affects considerably. Pico hydropower (PHP) offers an efficient, reliable and cost effective of alternative power sources. In addition, the demand for PHP in the market shows that PHP is the best and low-priced choice for rural or remote area electrification in developing nations. Nevertheless, the PHP technology is still considered as a brand-new in Malaysia. In this paper, the basic theories or concept of PHP were described for better understanding and recognition on this type of electricity or power production system. Furthermore, present status and projected future of PHP in Malaysia, inclusive of current installed capacity and potential of PHP energy resources are discussed. Besides that, the paper presents the barriers that hinder the proliferation of PHP in the Malaysia, the great challenges and outlooks for future developments of the PHP in Malaysia. By and large, the objective is to provide essential strategic implications for Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries.