SINGAPORE: Tenaga Nasional Bhd
(TNB) has pledged to connect approved data centres to the electricity grid within one year, as Malaysia strengthens its domestic network to keep pace with rising power demand and regional electricity connectivity.
TNB chief distribution network officer Ahmad Sazree Abd Aziz said strong domestic transmission and distribution networks were crucial to ensuring that Malaysia could fully benefit from the ASEAN Power Grid (APG).
"APG does help to strengthen the regional electricity security, but, at the same time, the real benefit from APG came about from how strong is the domestic network, in particular, transmission and distribution,” he said during a panel session titled "Strengthening Electricity Security through the APG” at the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) 2026 here today.
Ahmad Sazree said TNB needed to keep pace with growing electricity demand arising from economic growth, residential and commercial consumption, as well as energy-intensive data centres, while ensuring that the network remained reliable and resilient.
He said three practical measures were important in preparing Malaysia’s electricity network for growing demand, namely demand forecasting, network capacity planning and targeted infrastructure development.
"For Malaysia, we do actually have pressure in terms of the data centre.
"So, once it's been approved by the ministry-chaired committee, we pledge to get data centres connected to the grid in one year’s time,” he said.
He said TNB also needed to ensure that its distribution networks were modernised and digitalised to facilitate renewable energy interconnections at the distribution level.
In addition, he said integrated demand and supply planning was essential to enhance coordination between transmission and distribution networks, enabling the system to accommodate rising demand from data centres and the integration of renewable energy.
He said aligning demand forecasts, infrastructure planning and investment priorities would also help ensure that network development strengthened the electricity system as a whole. - Bernama
