KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional Bhd
(TNB) today reaffirmed its role in the country’s energy transition journey and fully recognises the urgency of the climate challenges ahead, its President and Chief Executive Officer Datuk Ir Shamsul Ahmad said today.
He said that TNB was also entrusted to ensure that electricity remained reliable, accessible and secure for millions of households, business and industries across the nation.
In doing so, it remains guided by the principles of the energy trilemma, namely balancing energy security, affordability and sustainability to navigate the transition towards a sustainable future.
"We are actively investing in cleaner generation, expanding our renewable energy portfolio and reducing the carbon intensity of our operations. We are strengthening and modernising our grid to support greater integration of renewable energy, while enhancing flexibility and resilience,” Shamsul said in his welcoming address on the first day of the Energy Transition Conference 2026 (ETCon26) attended by over 4,000 local and foreign participants.
Also present were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Deputy Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad, Deputy Minister of Economy Datuk Indera Mohd Shahar Abdullah, and TNB chairman Tan Sri Abdul Razak Abdul Majid.
Shamsul said TNB's commitment to delivering a sustainable and reliable energy future was reflected in its progress as the national utility firm recorded a System Minutes interruption rate of just 0.15 minutes in 2025, significantly outperforming the global benchmark of below 1.5 minutes.
Furthermore, in recognition of the national utility firm's sustainability efforts and governance standards, TNB’s MSCI ESG Rating was also upgraded to AA in 2026, from A in 2025, he added.
"We continue to partner with international industry players and technology leaders and invest in overseas infrastructure and transition opportunities, believing our industry does not operate in silo but thrives on collaboration and exchange," Shamsul said.
On ETCon26, he said the conference plays a critical role in bringing together policy, industry, investment, and innovation under one platform.
Shamsul noted that TNB recognised that progress depends on cooperation across all dimensions; policy sets direction, industry drives implementation, investors enable scale, and innovation unlocks new possibilities and none of these could operate in isolation.
He added that this year’s theme, "Energy and AI: The Synergy for Energy Transition,” was deliberately chosen to reflect the defining technology of this age as AI has proven instrumental in galvanising a system-wide transformation for the energy industry.
Shamsul said the energy transition was now moving into a more demanding stage where the national utility firm was looking at large-scale execution under legacy infrastructure and financial constraints.
"We are rapidly deploying renewable energy, but need to do so while balancing cost considerations for consumers and energy security for the country. Against this backdrop, AI-augmented systems are helping us integrate a higher share of renewables, optimise grid and asset management, and unlock energy efficiency at scale," he added.
Shamsul said TNB’s own journey toward digitalisation began more than a decade ago in 2015, when it committed to modernising Malaysia’s national grid into what it envisioned as the "Grid of the Future”.
The national utility firm continued to embark on its Digital Transformation strategy and upgrade its internal digital architectures to better serve the market and its customers.
"Today, we are propelling our efforts to its next stage, to leverage on this transformative enabler that is AI to springboard us into the future," he added. - Bernama
