Energy Info Highlights

Malaysia’s total installed capacity as of the end of 2008 was 21,988 MW, an increase of 0.8 percent from 21,815 MW in 2007. This was attributed to the additional capacity of 116 MW of gas turbine from Ranhill Powertron in Sabah. Furthermore, 37 MW of biomass grid connected capacity is already commissioned in Sabah in 2008. Electricity gross generation registered 105,784 GWh, an increase of 4.4 percent. The electricity consumption was 93,619 GWh, an increase of 4.8 percent from the previous year (2007: 89,298 GWh). The peak demand for Peninsular Malaysia was recorded at 14,007 MW in the second quarter of the year (2Q 2008), Sarawak at 856 MW (in 2Q 2008) and Sabah at 673 MW (3Q 2008). The calculated reserve margin for Peninsular Malaysia in 2008 was 43 percent and 13 percent for Sarawak with Sabah at 44 percent.

Electricity consumption from the residential sector increased by 4.4 percent to register at 1,668 ktoe (19,388 GWh) compared to the previous year. The consumption of electricity in the commercial sector also increased to reach 2,598 ktoe (30,195 GWh), boosted by the continued expansion in hypermarkets and retail outlets coupled with the extension of Visit Malaysia Year and Malaysia mega Sale. The electricity consumption in the industrial sector recorded an increase of 2.8 percent (2007: 3.2 percent) to register at 3,687 ktoe (41,689 GWh).

The final energy demand in 2008 expanded, albeit at a much slower pace, by 1.4 percent to settle at 44,901 ktoe compared to 9.8 percent in 2007. The share in energy demand was highest for the industrial sector at 42.6 percent, followed by the transport sector at 36.5 percent, 13.8 percent from the residential and commercial sector, the non-energy sector at 6.4 percent and 0.6 percent from the agriculture sector. Only non-energy use and residential and commercial sectors showed a downward trend of 2.8 percent and 0.1 percent respectively. The decline was attributed to the second half of the year, as the chemical and petrochemical sectors began to weaken due to the rapid deterioration in global demand and the fluctuation in commodity prices.

Total final energy demand of petroleum products in 2008 contracted by 1.6 percent with a major drop from the commercial and industrial sectors, reflected by the price hike in June 2008. Demand for Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) and Aviation Gas (AV Gas) was down by 2.0 percent in 2008, partly due to lower demand of 6.8 percent for air cargo handled by the Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad. In terms of share, diesel (37.5 percent) and motor petrol (36.2 percent) continued to be the largest contributors to the total demand of petroleum products. This was followed by ATF and AV Gas (8.6 percent), fuel oil (8.0 percent), LPG (6.0 percent), non-energy (3.3 percent), and kerosene (0.3 percent).

Overall, the growth in the energy sector has been driven by both supply and demand factors. The supply growth was driven by two major factors, namely, the increase in crude oil production, and higher import level of coal for power generation. Oil and gas still dominated the energy supply in Malaysia and are expected to continue to play a dominant role in the country’s primary energy mix. On the demand side, almost all sectors exhibited growth in their consumption of the energy, albeit at a much slower pace due to the economic downturn experienced in the year 2008.