• The Energy Commission says data centres now account for 9.28% of Malaysia's electricity consumption, compared with an average of about 7% this year
  • More facilities are expected to start operating in November, while no additional gas-fired generation is expected this year or in 2027

The fact

Malaysia's data centres now account for 9.28% of national electricity consumption, according to the Energy Commission. Chief executive Siti Safinah Salleh said hotter weather has increased the electricity needed for cooling, while more data centres are expected to start operating in November. Reuters reported that the share reached about 9.3% in the second week of August, compared with an average of 7% this year.

Malaysia expects to add about 9GW of gas-fired generation by 2032 as electricity demand rises and coal generation is gradually retired. The Energy Commission said no additional gas-fired capacity is expected this year or in 2027, leaving the existing fleet to meet near-term demand. TNB reported that 35 data-centre projects representing about 4.5GW of capacity had been connected to the grid by the end of 2025, when their actual load utilisation stood at about 850MW. Reuters said Malaysia has attracted major data-centre investment from companies including Amazon and Microsoft.

The assessment

Malaysia has spent the past few years speeding up power connections for new data centres. The pressure now comes after those facilities switch on. More sites are expected to start operating in November, but no new gas-fired generation is due this year or in 2027. For the near term, their electricity demand will have to be handled largely by the generation fleet and grid already in place.

Hot weather makes that job harder because data centres use more electricity for cooling at the same time that demand elsewhere can also rise. Securing a grid connection gets a project to the point where it can operate, but the electricity system still has to carry the combined load as more large facilities come online.

For BTW readers, the 9.28% figure is more useful than the development pipeline alone. It shows how much of Malaysia's data-centre expansion has already become real electricity demand. The facilities opening in November will provide another measure of how quickly that demand is still growing.

What to watch

Watch the data-centre share of national electricity consumption after the November openings, together with peak demand and any change to 2027 generation plans. New transmission projects, renewable-energy agreements and the timing of planned gas capacity will show how Malaysia is preparing the electricity system as more data-centre capacity moves into operation.