THE COASTAL WATERS surrounding Penang Island hold more than just tourist appeal and fishing potential—they could be the key to Malaysia’s renewable energy evolution. As ASEAN nations race to diversify their energy portfolios, innovative (but often ignored) technologies that leverage our most abundant resource—seawater—are emerging as promising alternatives in the renewable energy landscape. I will address two technologies here.
Seawater-activated Batteries: The Next Wave
Imagine a world where a battery doesn’t need to be charged—at least in the conventional sense, but rather, activates upon contact with seawater. This isn’t science fiction; it is a rapidly developing technology with significant implications for Malaysia’s renewable energy sector. At this juncture, it should be apparent why R&D for such tech has either been shelved or ridiculed to the hilt. Many simply avoid the simple question of why more money is not being spent developing this.
Trinasolar invested USD381.41mil in R&D, and had cumulatively filed 5,649 patent applications by the end of June 2024.[1] All that resource focused on solar cells and modules which, for all intents and purposes, are a big photosensitive diode. Doesn’t sound as sexy when you put it that way—but it is what it is. The point is that a lot of resources were thrown behind essentially proven tech to squeeze out marginal incremental improvements.
I say this to give some perspective to the effort made and the outcome achieved. Imagine the progress that could be made to develop seawater technology with the same resources and gusto.
