Malaysia pushing to fast track ASEAN Power Grid for greater cross-border electricity trade
Malaysia is pushing to fast track the ASEAN Power Grid, designed to facilitate greater cross-border electricity trade. This comes amid the growing need to decarbonise and ensure sustainable energy supply. As ASEAN chair, Malaysia is eager to have all the bloc's members endorse a single road map to realise a fully interconnected grid system by 2045. Melissa Goh reports from the Energy Asia conference in Kuala Lumpur.
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CNA
4 hours ago
- CNA
Malaysia pushing to fast track ASEAN Power Grid for greater cross-border electricity trade
Malaysia is pushing to fast track the ASEAN Power Grid, designed to facilitate greater cross-border electricity trade. This comes amid the growing need to decarbonise and ensure sustainable energy supply. As ASEAN chair, Malaysia is eager to have all the bloc's members endorse a single road map to realise a fully interconnected grid system by 2045. Melissa Goh reports from the Energy Asia conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Business Times
5 hours ago
- Business Times
Malaysia to build 50% more gas-fired power capacity to meet data centre demand
[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia is expected to add 6-8 gigawatts of gas-fired power by 2030 to address growing electricity consumption driven by demand from data centres, an industry official said. The country is expected to see the fastest surge in data centre power demand in South-east Asia, with its share of electricity consumed by data centres in the region to triple to 21 per cent by 2027 from 7 per cent in 2022, a joint report in May by Bain & Co with others including Google and Temasek showed. Rising gas demand could see Malaysia, the fifth-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), start importing the super-chilled fuel in four to five years, the head of state energy firm Petronas told the Energy Asia conference this week. Megat Jalaluddin, CEO of state utility Tenaga Nasional, said he expects Malaysia to add 6-8 gigawatts of gas-fired power by building new plants and extending the life of existing ones as it looks to cut dependence on coal. That represents a 40-54 per cent increase from the current 15 GW of gas-fired capacity. Total power consumption in Malaysia is on track to increase 30 per cent by 2030, and Malaysia has already invited industry proposals for supply, he said. 'We want to phase out coal responsibly. Then the next best option that can basically take the place of coal is gas,' he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Energy Asia event. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up Malaysia could also add as much as 10 GW of renewable capacity by 2030, more than doubling the 9 GW currently, as data centres push for access to cleaner sources of power, he said. In the last two years, Malaysia has turned to its coal-fired power plants to address surging demand which grew at the fastest pace in 14 years in 2024, according to energy think-tank Ember. Data centres are expected to require 19.5 GW of power generation capacity by 2035, accounting for 52 per cent of Peninsular Malaysia's electricity use, from about 2 per cent now, Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof told Reuters. Technology giants including Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet's Google and ByteDance have announced billions of dollars in investments in Malaysia since the beginning of last year, powering an infrastructure boom. Malaysia's southern state of Johor has emerged as South-east Asia's hottest data centre hub due to its proximity to Singapore, relatively cheap land and power and faster approvals, real estate consultancy Knight Frank said in a report. REUTERS
Business Times
7 hours ago
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Grab's US$1.5 billion convertible issue seen as prepping for competition and need for capital: Maybank
[SINGAPORE] Grab's recent move to upsize its five-year convertible note size to US$1.5 billion is timely given that the Asean digital sector – which includes food delivery – is likely to see more competition, said a Maybank Securities report. Grab's net cash position will rise to US$7.7 billion post-issue and, on conversion, could lead to a 4 per cent dilution for existing shareholders, estimated Maybank Securities' analysts Hussaini Saifee and Etta Rusdiana Putra in a Jun 16 report. One reason for this large offering is that Grab is bracing for new competition in the Asean market. According to Maybank's investment banking group research survey across Asean users from April to May 2025, 57 per cent of respondents indicated Grab to be their preferred ride-hailing operator. This is more than double of the second most preferred option, Gojek, which came in at 27 per cent. 'While competition remains rational and Grab is gaining share, rising threats from players like Vietnam's Green and Smart Mobility (GSM) brand and Chinese giants such as Meituan or Didi (Chuxing) could intensify pricing and driver incentives, demanding financial agility,' said the analysts. Vietnam's electric taxi brand Xanh SM, through its GSM brand, is rapidly expanding across Asean, signalling the potential to grow into a major regional green mobility and delivery player, they added. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'After successful launches in Vietnam, Laos, and Indonesia, GSM debuted a 2,500-vehicle electric taxi fleet in the Philippines as part of its 'Go Green Global' strategy.' Grab and GoTo were also rumoured to be in talks to merge, before both issued disclosures stating otherwise. The analysts noted that this could lead to the possibility of GoTo tying up with the likes of Chinese on-demand service providers such as Meituan or Didi. Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi has also steadily expanded beyond China, entering markets like Latin America, Australia, Japan, and more recently Hong Kong. However, the analysts pointed out that Didi is contractually restricted from expanding into Asean's ride-hailing market given its stake in Grab. 'This could change if Didi exits its stake in Grab.' This is another reason for Grab to raise capital, Maybank Securities' analysts said, to prepare itself should any of the large shareholders exit their stake. 'Several of Grab's large shareholders, SoftBank, Didi, and Uber, hold significant stakes and may be considering partial or full exits amid portfolio shifts and regulatory pressures.' 'By raising capital through convertible notes, Grab could position itself to deploy funds for share buybacks, which can help absorb selling pressure and stabilise the stock if such exits materialise,' the analysts said. They noted that foodpanda remains a potential acquisition target for Grab, but they believe that the transaction size is unlikely to necessitate a capital raise. The analysts also noted that Grab's capital needs for its fintech arm remain limited with a loan book at US$566 million. 'The current loan book is relatively small and well-diversified across use cases and user segments, which keeps credit risk manageable.' This approach reduces the likelihood of large losses and minimises the need for significant capital buffers and equity injections, they added.
