Data Center Surge Strains Power Supply in Southeast Asia's Third Richest Nation

The share of data centers in overall power consumption surged to a record 9.3% in the second week of August, compared with an average of 7% this year, Energy Commission CEO Siti Safinah Salleh said. "With the hotter weather, the cooling system requires a lot more energy," she said. Data centers could account for as much as ⁠31% of peninsular Malaysia's power demand by 2035, said Zaharin Zulkifli, deputy director for economic statistics and research at the Energy Commission. A view of Kuala Lumpur's skyline, in Malaysia, July 31, 2025. Photo by Reuters As Malaysia, the region's fastest-growing data center hub, gradually phases out coal-fired power, the nation of about 35 million people will have to augment its gas-fired capacity by 9 GW by 2032, economy minister Akmal Nasir said. Malaysia, Southeast Asia's third richest country by GDP per capita after Singapore and Brunei, plans to retire the last of its coal-fired power plants by 2044, Akmal told reporters at an Energy Commission conference. Malaysia is attracting billions of dollars in investments from major global tech firms ‌including ⁠Amazon and Microsoft, leveraging its domestic gas reserves to address rising power demand this year and buck aregional decline in gas-fired generationas the Iran war chokes liquefied natural gas imports. But with no additional gas-fired power expected to come online this year and next, Malaysia will "optimize" its current fleet to address ⁠rising demand until the end of 2027, Siti said, without providing further details. The energy commission did not anticipate hot weather persisting longer than early September, which she said resulted in higher power use, she said. "Because ⁠of the hot weather, our hydro dams are also at very low levels." Still, Malaysia does not face power shortages in the near future due to rising data centre deployments, said ⁠Gary Goh, senior manager for business development at Sprint DC Consulting. "The demand surge is entirely within grid planning parameters and will continue to ramp predictably," Goh said. Subsidiary of VnExpress License number: 71/GP-CBC, Ministry of Information andCommunications, September 22, 2021 Editor-in-Chief: Pham Van Hieu Email: [email protected]: 028 7300 9999 - Ext 8556 10th floor, Block A FPT Tower, 10 Pham Van Bach, Cau Giay Ward, Hanoi