KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia expects an additional 10,000 to 11,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy (RE) capacity to come online by 2030, with installed capacity already reaching nearly 32 per cent, or about 14,000MW, as of Sept 1.

Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the projected new capacity was based on government-announced RE programmes and private companies’ plans under the Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (Cress), an open-access framework managed by the Energy Commission.

He said the government aimed to raise the share of installed RE capacity to 35 per cent by 2030 and 70 per cent by 2050.

“To further increase RE capacity, various programmes are being implemented, including the Large Scale Solar (LSS) programme, the Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS), Solar ATAP, the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat.

Fadillah said 62 data centres had signed Electricity Supply Agreements (ESAs) with utility companies as of August which involves a combined maximum demand of 8.77GW.

“Of these, 45 data centres had begun operations, with a combined maximum demand of 6GW.

He said the capacity committed under the ESA should be distinguished from actual electricity demand, as projects remained subject to technical and commercial requirements, development progress and grid connection capacity.

Fadillah said the government would ensure that the development of generation capacity and the electricity grid kept pace with growing demand, while balancing security of supply, sustainability and affordability.

He was responding to Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (PN-Kubang Kerian), who inquired on the total new net generation capacity expected to be operational by 2030 and the capacity committed under ESAs with data centres.