The widespread power outages in the Klang Valley and Johor yesterday highlight potential weaknesses in the country’s power system, which is coming under increasing stress, a research house said.
CGS International said the outages underscore “potential vulnerabilities in the nation’s power and grid infrastructure”, The Edge reported.
It also reinforces the case for a new power sector capital expenditure (capex) cycle. “While near-term sentiment may be affected, we view this incident as reinforcing, not undermining, the case for TNB’s (Tenaga Nasional Bhd) regulated grid investments,” it said in a note today.
It noted the power cut originated from the Edra Melaka power plant while a concurrent unplanned outage at the 1,000MW Tanjung Bin Energy coal plant in Johor exacerbated stress on the transmission and distribution network.
“We estimate these two plants account for a combined 13% of Peninsular Malaysia’s total installed generation capacity, highlighting the limited reserve margin within the system,” it added.
CGS also highlighted the surge in foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals, particularly into the energy-intensive electronics and electrical (E&E) sector and data centres, risks exposing Malaysia’s system vulnerabilities.
To tackle this, the research house said accelerating new power generation capacity development and grid upgrades is “imperative to strengthen resilience and reliability”.
The incident also reinforces the case for TNB to deploy its RM16.3 billion contingent capex under Regulatory Period 4 (RP4).
“These combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) investments are critical not only to meet immediate reliability needs, but also for renewable energy (RE) integration, in line with Malaysia’s energy transition agenda,” CGS added.
A lightning strike during a thunderstorm triggered an automatic shutdown of Malaysia’s largest gas-fired power plant yesterday, sparking temporary supply disruptions in multiple states.
The outage at Edra Melaka power plant took out supply capacity equivalent to over 10% of Peninsular Malaysia’s maximum electricity demand for more than an hour. The plant is owned by independent power producer Edra Power Holdings Sdn Bhd.
There was another power disruption in several other areas that was unrelated to the Edra Melaka plant shutdown, said TNB.
Key locations in Kuala Lumpur where outages were reported included the Mid Valley Megamall, The Exchange TRX, and Pavilion Damansara Heights.
