PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is planning to build more coal fire plants to increase its electricity sources and reduce dependency on natural gas, Energy Commission chairman Datuk Mohd Annas Mohd Nor said.
He said that at present about 70% of Malaysia’s electricity came from natural gas, with the remainder from diesel, oil, hydropower and biomass.
“We know that it is not a clean source of fuel, but it is abundant and affordable. One of the first priorities is for us to secure supply for our increasing energy demands,” he said.
The electricity demand for residential and commercial use is likely to increase by an average of 6% to 8% a year.
Mohd Annas said the alternative plan in the next 10 years was to increase coal’s contribution to about 25% to 30% of the generation of fuel sources. Presently, coal made up about 8% of Malaysia’s fuel sources.
He said there were clean coal technologies which would be adopted to reduce the environmental impact in the form of emissions from the coal fire plants. There are now two coal fire plants, one in Perak and the other in Selangor.
Mohd Annas was speaking at a roundtable discussion organised recently in conjunction with an 11-day workshop, entitled “Alternative Energies and Water Protection and Access to Clean Water,” attended by local and foreign journalists.
The workshop was organised by the International Institute for Journalists of InWent, Berlin, Asian Centre for Media Studies, ANN and The Star.
Malaysia now has a five-fuel policy, comprising of oil, gas, coal, hydropower and renewable energy like solar power and biomass, to avoid over dependence on any one source.
Malaysia’s current energy consumption comprises 3% use of renewable energy.
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