Malaysia to build 50% more gas-fired power capacity to meet data centre demand, official says
KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 (Reuters) - Malaysia is expected to add 6-8 gigawatts of gas-fired power by 2030 to address growing electricity consumption driven by demand from data centres, an industry official said.
The country is expected to see the fastest surge in data centre power demand in southeast Asia, with its share of electricity consumed by data centres in the region to triple to 21% by 2027 from 7% in 2022, a joint report in May by Bain & Co with others including Google and Temasek showed.
Rising gas demand could see Malaysia, the fifth-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), start importing the super-chilled fuel in four to five years, the head of state energy firm Petronas told the Energy Asia conference this week.
Megat Jalaluddin, CEO of state utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TENA.KL), opens new tab, said he expects Malaysia to add 6-8 gigawatts of gas-fired power by building new plants and extending the life of existing ones as it looks to cut dependence on coal.
That represents a 40-54% increase from the current 15 GW of gas-fired capacity. Total power consumption in Malaysia is on track to increase 30% by 2030, and Malaysia has already invited industry proposals for supply, he said.
"We want to phase out coal responsibly. Then the next best option that can basically take the place of coal is gas," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Energy Asia event.
Malaysia could also add as much as 10 GW of renewable capacity by 2030, more than doubling the 9 GW currently, as data centres push for access to cleaner sources of power, he said.
In the last two years, Malaysia has turned to its coal-fired power plants to address surging demand which grew at the fastest pace in 14 years in 2024, according to energy think-tank Ember.
Data centres are expected to require 19.5 GW of power generation capacity by 2035, accounting for 52% of Peninsular Malaysia's electricity use, from about 2% now, Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof told Reuters.
Technology giants including Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet's Google and ByteDance have announced billions of dollars in investments in Malaysia since the beginning of last year, powering an infrastructure boom.
Malaysia's southern state of Johor has emerged as Southeast Asia's hottest data centre hub due to its proximity to Singapore, relatively cheap land and power and faster approvals, real estate consultancy Knight Frank said in a report.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
World Bank Group considers $500 million boost for South Africa's transmission expansion
CAPE TOWN, June 20 (Reuters) - The World Bank Group is considering financing $500 million of South Africa's participation in a new credit guarantee facility meant to unlock private financing for a massive transmission grid expansion plan, a senior bank official told Reuters. South Africa is courting private investment for an ambitious plan to add 14,500 km of new lines and enhanced transformer capacity over the next decade, at an estimated total cost of $25 billion, as it looks to emerge from a decade of crippling power cuts that have battered the economy. The proposed credit guarantee vehicle aims to help overcome transmission infrastructure bottlenecks that have held back some 20 gigawatts of renewable energy from connecting to the national electricity network, according to Standard Bank. Many of the renewable projects are situated in the sun-baked Northern Cape or windswept Western and Eastern Cape regions, far from existing transmission corridors linking most of South Africa to the coal-powered generation plants in the north. Operating as a stand-alone entity, the credit guarantee vehicle would issue guarantees instead of South Africa's treasury and would cover payment defaults, for instance, should something go awry during the roll-out. "We could cover or be committed to finance half a billion U.S. dollars of the government of South Africa's first loss or junior capital participation," Yadviga Semikolenova, a senior World Bank manager, said late on Thursday. South Africa has sought not to put further pressure on its strained finances by offering additional sovereign guarantees, as it faces lacklustre growth, high debt-servicing costs and the failure to agree a VAT hike within the government coalition this year. The treasury has committed to providing junior or first loss capital of 20%, which will be an initial $100 million before moving up to $500 million. The credit guarantee vehicle aims to eventually grow to $2.5 billion, an April 4 treasury document shows. The document, seen by Reuters, details a package under discussion with the World Bank Group that includes a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to finance the treasury's junior capital and a potential $100 million direct injection from the International Finance Corporation. The bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency is also considering reinsurance and political risk cover. Approval from the World Bank Group board was expected later this year, treasury officials said. The treasury said in April it had sought backing for the facility from several development financiers, including the Development Bank of Southern Africa, African Development Bank, Germany's KfW and British International Investment. The DBSA said it was considering participating while BII said it could not comment on any transaction that it has not made a commitment to or announced.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Government approves large-scale solar park in South Derbyshire
Plans for a large-scale solar farm in South Derbyshire have been approved by the government.A proposal for the Oaklands Farm Solar Park project was submitted to the planning inspectorate in February solar farm and energy storage facility would cover more than 400 acres of land (161 hectares), between the villages of Rosliston and Walton-on-Trent, according to the planning Thursday, Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero granted permission for the development to go ahead. The planning inspectorate oversaw the application due to its scale and national said in a statement: "Following an examination during which the public, statutory consultees and interested parties were given the opportunity to give evidence to the examining authority, recommendations were made to the Secretary of State on 19 March."More than 300 people commented on the application on the government's planning website, with many concerned about loss of farming government said the examining authority listened and "gave full consideration to all local views"."Local people, the local authority and other interested parties were able to participate in this six-month examination," it added. According to planning documents, the firm behind the project said it provide "enough clean renewable electricity to power in the region of 35,000 homes".
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Highland councillors oppose hydro project on Loch Ness
Councillors have objected to plans for a new hydro scheme that would draw water from Loch Ness to generate Energy's pumped storage hydro project would involve constructing a power station and tunnels at Loch Kemp near Whitebridge, about 10 miles (16km) north of Fort Scottish government, which has a say on whether it eventually goes ahead or not, has consulted Highland Council on the local authority's south planning applications voted 8-2 in favour of a motion opposing the project due to a number of concerns, including impacts on wildlife and tourism. Highland Council officials had recommended councillors raised no Energy has been approached for comment. Aird and Loch Ness councillor Chris Ballance, who put forward the motion, said ancient woodlands along the loch's shores could be adversely affected by changes in water said wildlife, such as otters, and the "special qualities" of Loch Ness could be put at Ballance also argued that a tourism impact assessment had not been carried out, and his motion also raised concerns about construction traffic on local and Strathspey councillor Bill Lobban tabled an amendment supporting the officials' recommendation. The amendment was defeated in the District Salmon Fishery Board, which opposes new pumped storage hydro on Loch Ness, welcomed the committee's Brian Shaw said: "This was absolutely the right decision. "The councillors rejected out of hand the planning officer's conclusion that this was the 'right development in the right place'." What is pumped storage hydro? Pumped storage hydro involves two bodies of water at different water flows from one to the other through tunnels, passing through a power station to generate there is low demand for electricity from consumers and/or when surplus power is available from wind farms, electricity is used to pump water from the lower level to fill a reservoir further up the water can then be released from the upper reservoir, flowing down the tunnels to drive turbines which generate hydro-electricity. This happens at times of high demand, or when there is not enough wind to power wind Kemp Storage Ltd, which is owned by Statera Energy, has proposed damming Loch Kemp, the upper reservoir of its scheme, to raise water also plans to construct an underground waterway systems and tunnels, and powerhouse on the shores of Loch Ness. The south planning applications committee granted consent for a separate electricity-related approved plans SSEN Transmission's plans to replace three 1960s-built substations at Deanie and Culligran in Glen Strathfarrar, and at Kilmorack.
