Impact of movement control order implementation on electricity consumption: A case study of university buildings

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Faculty of Electrical Engineering Technology, University Malaysia Perlis, Arau, Perlis, Malaysia

2 Development Department, University Malaysia Perlis, Malaysia

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has first been identified in China at the end of 2019 and later has spread worldwide. In Malaysia, Covid-19 cases have increased drastically in March 2020 that caused the Government to implement a Movement Control Order (MCO) starting 18 March 2020 to curb the outbreak which has affected all sectors in the country including higher education institutions. The objective of this paper is to present the impact of MCO implementation on the electricity consumption on the university buildings particularly at Universiti Malaysia Perlis. The methodology processes involve comparing the energy usage in 2019 as baseline data with usage in 2020 as the assessed data. These data then been analyzed for every 3 months or quarterly for reporting. Based on the results, MCO implementation has shown positive impact to the energy conservation where 3,023 MWh of electrical energy has been reduced in 2020 which is 25.72% less than the same period in 2019. This condition has been extremely beneficial to the university’s operations where RM 1.369 million of electricity bill has been saved. In the aspect of environmental sustainability, the amount of energy reduction is equivalent to more than 2,000 tonnes of CO2 avoidance at rated value 0.694 tCO2 per MWh. As a result from energy reduction, the BEI performance of the buildings has improved from 3-Star (moderately efficient) to 4-Star (efficient).

Keywords

[1] A. Abu-Rayash and I. Dincer, Analysis of the electricity demand trends amidst the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 68(June) (2020) 101682.
[2] J.V.B. Andrade, R.S. Salles, M.N.S. Silva and B.D. Bonatto, Falling Consumption and Demand for Electricity in South Africa - A Blessing and a Curse, 2020 IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica (2020) 1–5.
[3] P.M.R. Bento, S.J.P.S. Mariano, M.R.A. Calado and J.A.N. Pombo, Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on electric energy load and pricing in the Iberian electricity market, Energy Reports 7 (2021) 4833–4849.
[4] Berita Harian, Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan Bersyarat mulai 4 Mei, www.bharian.com.my, 2020.
[5] Bernama, First case of Malaysian positive for coronavirus, www.bernama.com, Feb. 4th 2020.
[6] C. Birch, R. Edwards, S. Mander and A. Sheppard, Electrical consumption in the Higher Education sector, during the COVID-19 shutdown, 2020 IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica (2020) 1–5.
[7] B. Chia, E.V. Teo, E. Chuah, S. Mongkolthanit and M.K. Loo, Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures Within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2020, Baker McKenzie, (18) March. 2020, p. P.U. (A) 91.
[8] M. Chihib, E. Salmer´on-Manzano, M. Chourak, A.J. Perea-Moreno and F. Manzano-Agugliaro, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the energy use at the university of almeria (Spain), Sustain. 13(11) (2021).
[9] N. Edomah and G. Ndulue, Energy transition in a lockdown: An analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on changes in electricity demand in Lagos Nigeria, Glob. Transitions 2 (2020) 127–137.
[10] Energy Commission, Peninsular Malaysia Grid System Operator Website, www.gso.org.my, 2021.
[11] Energy Commission of Malaysia, Shaping The Future of Malaysia’s Energy Sector, Energy Malaysia 18 (2019) 7.
[12] V. Filimonau, D. Archer, L. Bellamy, N. Smith and R. Wintrip, The carbon footprint of a UK University during the COVID-19 lockdown, Sci. Total Environ. 756 (2021) 143964.
[13] X. Gui, Z. Gou, F. Zhang and R. Yu, The impact of COVID-19 on higher education building energy use and implications for future education building energy studies, Energy Build. 251 (2021) 111346.
[14] Harian Metro, PKPD Pentadbiran di 28 mukim Kota Setar, www.hmetro.com.my, 2020.
[15] S. Hasan, M. Rasheduzzaman and M.M. Hossain, Impacts of COVID-19 on the electrical power dynamics and environment of Bangladesh, Proc. 3rd 2021 Int. Youth Conf. Radio Electron. Electr. Power Eng. REEPE 2021 (2021).
[16] J.S. Hassan, R.M. Zin, M.Z.A. Majid, S. Balubaid and M.R. Hainin, Building energy consumption in Malaysia: An overview, J. Teknol., 70(7) (2014) 33–38.
[17] IEA, Global energy and CO2 emissions in 2020, Global energy review 2020, IEA, Paris, (2020).
[18] H. Kang, J. An, H. Kim, C. Ji, T. Hong and S. Lee, Changes in energy consumption according to building use type under COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., 148(June) (2021) 111294.
[19] Majlis Keselamatan Negara, SOP Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan Bersyarat (PKPB), covid-19.moh.gov.my, 2021.
[20] R. Mokhtari and M.H. Jahangir, The effect of occupant distribution on energy consumption and COVID-19 infection in buildings: A case study of university building, Build. Environ. 190 (2021) 1–16.
[21] M. Mofijur, I.M.R. Fattah, M.A. Alam, A.B.M. Saiful Islam, H.C. Ong, S.M.A. Rahman, G.Najafi, S.F. Ahmed, M.A. Uddin and T.M.I. Mahlia, Impact of COVID-19 on the social, economic, environmental and energy domains: Lessons learnt from a global pandemic, Sustain. Prod. Consum. 26(Sep.) 2020 343–359.
[22] G. Morva and I. Diahovchenko, Effects of COVID-19 on the electricity sectors of Ukraine and Hungary: Challenges of energy demand and renewables integration, CANDO-EPE 2020 - Proceedings, IEEE 3rd Int. Conf. Work. Obuda Electr. Power Eng. (2020) 41–46.
[23] C. Mosca, P. Colella, E. Bompard and Z. Yan, Techno-economic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the Italian electricity system, 2020 AEIT International Annual Conference (AEIT) (2020) 1–6.
[24] N. Norouzi, G.Z. de Rubens, S. Choubanpishehzafar and P. Enevoldsen, When pandemics impact economies and climate change: Exploring the impacts of COVID-19 on oil and electricity demand in China, Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 68(March) (2020) 101654.
[25] N. Norouzi and M. Fani, The impacts of the novel corona virus on the oil and electricity demand in Iran and China, Res. Artic. J. Energy Manag. Technol. 4(4) (2020) 36.
[26] Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia, Restriction of Movement Order, www.pmo.gov.my, 2020.
[27] L. Rassudov and A. Korunets, COVID-19 pandemic challenges for engineering education, 11th Int. Conf. Elect. Power Drive Syst. 2020 Proc. (2020) 2020–2022.
[28] R.G. Ryan, J.D. Silver and R. Schofield, Air quality and health impact of 2019–20 black summer megafires and COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, Environ. Pollut. 274 (2021).
[29] A.U.M. Shah, S.N.A. Safri, R. Thevadas, N.K. Noordin, A. AbdRahman, Z.Sekawi, A. Ideris and M.T.H. Sultan, COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia: Actions taken by the Malaysian government, Int. J. Infect. Dis. 97 (2020) 108–116.
[30] A. Shahzad, R. Hassan, A.Y. Aremu, A. Hussain and R.N. Lodhi, Effects of COVID-19 in E-learning on higher education institution students: the group comparison between male and female, Qual. Quant. 55(3) (2020) 805–826.
[31] J. Sieed, R. Komiyama and Y. Fujii, Effect of Covid-19 and lock-down on the electricity sector in Bangladesh, in Proceedings of 2020 11th International Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering, ICECE 2020 (2020) 351–354.
[32] V.S. Sikarwar, A. Reichert, M. Jeremias and V. Manovic, COVID-19 pandemic and global carbon dioxide emissions: A first assessment, Sci. Total Environ. 794 (2021) 148770.
[33] The Borneo Post, First coronavirus cases in Malaysia: 3 Chinese nationals confirmed infected, quarantined in Sungai Buloh Hospital, www.theborneopost.com, Jan. 25th 2020.
[34] The Star, Health DG: Movement control can boost ministry’s fight against Covid-19, www.thestar.com, Mar. 17th 2020.
[35] The Star, Malaysia ranked 29th for number of Covid-19 cases worldwide, www.thestar.com, 28 Jan. 2021.
[36] WHO, WHO Statement regarding cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China, www.who.int, 2020.
[37] World Economic Forum, These 3 charts show what COVID-19 has done to global energy demand, www.weforum.org, 2020.
[38] N.A. Zakaria, M.Y. Hassan, H. Abdullah, M.P. Abdullah, F. Hussin, S.M. Hussin and N.N. Abu Bakar, Energy efficiency index by considering number of occupants: A study on the lecture rooms in a university building, Indones. J. Electr. Eng. Comput. Sci. 15(3) (2019) 1154–1160.
[39] L. Zhang, H. Li, W.J. Lee and H. Liao, COVID-19 and energy: Influence mechanisms and research methodologies, Sustain. Prod. Consum. 27 (2021) 2134–2152.
[40] Q. Zhang, Y. Pan, Y. He, W.W. Walters, Q. Ni, X. Liu, G. Xu, J. Shao and C. Jiang, Substantial nitrogen oxides emission reduction from China due to COVID-19 and its impact on surface ozone and aerosol pollution, Sci. Total Environ. 753 (2021) 142238.
Volume 13, Issue 1
March 2022
Pages 673-684
  • Receive Date: 09 August 2021
  • Accept Date: 26 September 2021