Minister: Feasibility review ongoing to secure cleaner, more reliable electricity
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has begun a feasibility study on nuclear power as a means to secure cleaner and more reliable electricity in the decades ahead, with the government aiming to decide by 2031 whether to adopt nuclear as part of the country’s future energy mix.
This comes as the country looks for new energy sources amid geopolitical tensions that have shaken global markets.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Chang Lih Kang said recent crises have shown how exposed countries are when they rely heavily on others for strategic supplies, whether it is fuel, semiconductors or even vaccines.
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“We should develop our own technology sovereignty. That means we don’t rely too much on foreign countries, especially on those strategic technologies.
“When a crisis happens, if you don’t have your own capability, you have to accept whatever price and whatever schedule others give you,” he told The Star.
The Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry, through MyPOWER Corporation, is carrying out a feasibility study on nuclear power, including small modular reactors.
Under the 13th Malaysia Plan, nuclear is listed as one of the potential clean electricity sources in the national energy mix.
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About 7GW of coal‑fired power capacity is expected to retire by 2035 and no new coal plants are planned after 2040.
At the same time, Malaysia has pledged to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
“In that context, nuclear is being assessed as one of the potential stable, low‑carbon baseload options to support the country’s long‑term electricity supply security,” Chang said.
He noted that the world’s fossil fuel reserves are depleting and that environmental, social and governance standards – including carbon taxes – will make heavy reliance on coal and gas more expensive in future.
But Chang is careful not to present nuclear as a silver bullet.
“I wouldn’t say nuclear is the best, but it is one of the viable options. We need to have something that can be a stable baseload.”
He explained that solar and wind were intermittent, producing energy only at certain times.
Putrajaya is also trying to carve out a place in the hydrogen economy, particularly for transport and industrial use. But Malaysia is still at a very early stage in this, he said.
At present, large‑scale green hydrogen production is only viable in Sarawak, where hydropower can provide low‑carbon electricity.
The state plans to export green hydrogen to countries such as South Korea and Japan, said Chang, adding that Sarawak will also retain some hydrogen for domestic users instead of shipping everything abroad.
Peninsular Malaysia, by contrast, lacks comparable hydropower resources and must rely mainly on solar energy to produce green hydrogen – a route that requires immense land parcels and remains highly costly.
Transporting hydrogen typically requires it to be chilled to very low temperatures or compressed at high pressure, while storage can be in solid, liquid or gas form. All these options are technically demanding.
“When you don’t have a supply of green hydrogen and you don’t have enough users, the cost will be very high because you don’t have economies of scale,” he said.
Despite this, his ministry is laying the groundwork through NanoMalaysia Bhd, which is advancing hydrogen‑powered vehicle technologies under the Hydrogen Economy and Technology Roadmap.
Projects under NanoMalaysia’s Hydrogen EcoNanoMY programme include hydrogen‑paired electric vehicles such as the HyPER race car and HyPERBIKE.
“These projects are still at the stage of technology demonstration, testing and validation,” he said.
