TNB helps drive energy transition in Southeast Asia

Regional policies and partnerships are key, says electricity chief, TNB

The 11 nations that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (AEAN) are facing the same energy trilemma as much of the rest of the world, says Dato’ Seri Ir. Baharin Din, President and CEO of Malaysian multinational electricity company TNB (Tenaga Nasional Berhad): how to balance energy security, sustainability and affordability, while accelerating the transition to clean energy.

His answer at the recent ENLIT ASIA 2023 conference was to open more partnerships with government bureaus, key investors and primary stakeholders, together with increased regional co-operation.

Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) places investments in renewables, energy efficiency, hydrogen, bioenergy, green mobility, and carbon capture. TNB already holds 29 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with local and international partners, for developing projects including solar parks, integrating hydrogen and ammonia in power plants, interconnections and electric vehicles.

Baharin said: “At present, we can support an extra 12GW of new solar plants and battery storage at specified nodal points in our domestic infrastructure, in addition to the existing 4GW of renewable energy. We are proactively identifying more nodal points to match our national goal of reaching 70% renewable energy capacity by 2050 and fulfilling the energy demands of neighbouring countries when necessary.”

Malaysia is also improving its transmission facilities, for wider regional co-operation and interconnection across borders through the ASEAN Power Grid (APG).

ASEAN’s regional goals include sourcing up to 3,000GW of clean energy by 2050 – up from 188GW at present.