Internship Journey #2 NGO – Social Enterprise

Here’s what I learned about my internship on day one. From time to time I will be posting my journey and things that I learn during my four months internship. Good luck to me.

Tonibung is a Non-Profit Organisation that I’m currently doing my internship. This NGO partner with Penampang Renewable Energy, which is a local company located in Penampang, Sabah. Penampang Renewable Energy (PRE) is a Malaysian clean-tech social enterprise with a vision of achieving universal clean energy access for all Malaysians. Specializing in micro-hydro, solar PV and solar thermal technologies, PRE serves a wide array of clients and customers. These include other private companies, non-profits, academic institutions, rural communities and individual. PRE’s full range of products and services include:-

• Consultancy – including site survey and feasibility study
• System design
• Component supply
• Custom fabrication
• Training

PRE is a flat based organization with a lean team in order to ensure a speedy response time to its clients and partners. PRE’s flagship product it the locally designed and assembled Pelton turbine, but the company also retails solar power banks and solar water heaters, with a line of products in the research and development phase. PRE’s leadership have also accumulated over 15 years in the development and installation of solar PV, micro-hydro and hybrid micro-grids.

Founded in 2009, PRE also supports growing renewable energy movement in Borneo. After implementing community based renewable energy systems for more than 15 years, the founders of Penampang Renewable Energy Sdn. Bhd. (PRE) realized that innovative market-based solutions could play a significant role in increasing Malaysian’s access to sustainable energy. By developing clean energy solutions in the Malaysian private sector, PRE is able to offer other these services to rural communities more affordably and at a larger scale. PRE has begun to provide services, equipment supply, and installation of clean energy systems under the Feed-in-Tariff(FiT) mechanism.

PRE supports and partners with the indigenous community based organization Tonibung. TONIBUNG brings cost-effective appropriate technology solutions to under served rural indigenous communities in Malaysia. PRE and TONIBUNG’s joint training program empowers indigenous technicians, enabling them to design and implement renewable energy schemes of their own. PRE retains a select few of these trained technicians, employing them in turbine manufacturing and installations.

PRE’s office is located in Donggongon with its workshop in Kampung Nampasan, Penampang. CREATE (The Centre for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology) is a village- based innovation hub, founded in partnership with Tonibung and US-based Green Empowerment under an award from the National Geographic Society. The centre includes a turbine assembly plant, testing facilities, as well as lodging and classrooms for training.