Malaysia’s Current Energy Landscape

Malaysia’s electricity generation is still dominated by fossil fuels. In 2024, coal accounted for a significant share, and natural gas and oil together comprised the majority of generation, while solar and other renewables made up a small fraction of the total mix.

Under existing projections, renewables (including hydro, solar, and biomass) contribute modestly to Malaysia’s grid, with hydro representing the largest renewable source. However, the installed capacity of solar and other variable renewables remains low relative to fossil-fuel generation.

Policy Targets: 70% Renewable Energy by 2050

Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) and associated plans set a target for renewable energy to comprise 70% of national electricity generation capacity by 2050.

Intermediate milestones include:

• 31% renewables by 2025;
• 40% by 2035.

These targets reflect an ambitious shift from the current fossil fuel–dominant mix toward a cleaner grid, supported by solar, hydro, bioenergy, and emerging technologies like battery storage.

What Does 70% Renewable Mean in Practice?

Achieving 70% renewables by 2050 would entail significant changes in how Malaysia generates and manages electricity:

Generation Mix and Technology Integration

• Solar Expansion: Solar photovoltaics would need to scale dramatically, becoming the backbone of supply given Malaysia’s high solar irradiance potential.
• Hydropower and Bioenergy: Hydro would continue providing baseload and seasonal balancing, supported by biomass and other bioenergy where viable.
• Energy Storage: Large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) would be essential to accommodate the variability of solar and wind generation.
• Grid Upgrades: Enhanced transmission and distribution networks are required to move renewable generation from resource-rich regions (e.g., East Malaysia) to demand centers nationwide.

Economic and System Implications

• Investment Requirements: Estimates from NETR suggest extensive investment over the coming decades to build renewables, storage, and grid infrastructure.
• Affordability Challenges: Reaching high renewable penetration without raising tariffs will require careful tariff design, flexible pricing mechanisms, and direct renewable procurement options for large consumers.
• Energy Security: A diversified renewable portfolio strengthens energy security by reducing reliance on imported fuels and exposure to price volatility.

What About 80% and 100% Renewable Scenarios?

Malaysia has not officially modelled scenarios beyond its 70% target, but international research on high-renewable grids offers context:

80% Renewable

An 80% renewable grid would likely require:

• Enhanced storage capacity, including long-duration solutions beyond lithium batteries.
• Demand-side management to shift loads to times of high renewable output.
• Flexible backup generation, possibly bioenergy or green hydrogen, for reliability.

This level of renewable penetration is technically feasible but imposes system complexity, including grid services to maintain frequency and voltage stability.

100% Renewable

Envisioning 100% renewables in Malaysia would demand:

• Complete phase-out of fossil fuel–based generation.
• Substantial overcapacity of renewables to address variability.
• Grid-scale storage (batteries, pumped hydro) and advanced forecasting and dispatch systems.

Studies from other regions indicate that while 100% renewable systems are technically possible, they require advanced planning, significant storage, and flexible load management and may come with higher system costs if not optimised.

A Note on Scope and Assumptions

This analysis is intended as a structured thought experiment rather than a definitive system plan. The scenarios outlined above are illustrative, designed to explore the scale, complexity, and interdependencies involved in increasing renewable energy penetration in Malaysia’s power system. In practice, achieving targets at the 70%, 80%, or 100% level would require detailed system modelling, long-term policy coordination, substantial capital investment, regulatory alignment, and the deployment of mature and emerging technologies at scale. Actual pathways will depend on economic conditions, technological progress, and national policy decisions over time.

‍

Conclusion
Malaysia’s pathway toward higher shares of renewable electricity — whether 70%, 80%, or beyond — reflects a broader structural evolution of its power system rather than a single technological challenge. Each milestone represents a different level of system maturity, requiring progressively greater integration between generation, storage, grids, and demand management.
At the 70% level, the transition is primarily one of scale and coordination, building on technologies and policy frameworks already in motion. Higher renewable shares introduce additional layers of system optimisation, flexibility, and planning, but they also unlock opportunities for long-term cost stability, energy security, and domestic capability development.
Viewed through this lens, Malaysia’s renewable energy ambitions are less about overcoming obstacles and more about sequencing investments, strengthening institutions, and aligning technology deployment with national development goals. As experience accumulates and systems evolve, the feasibility of higher renewable penetration becomes increasingly a matter of design and governance rather than fundamental limitation.

‍

Sources:

• International Energy Agency. (n.d.). Malaysia – countries & regions
• Ministry of Economy, Malaysia. (2023). National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR)
• Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia. (n.d.). Malaysia Renewable Energy Roadmap (MyRER)
• Ember. (2025). Solar and grid flexibility critical for Malaysia’s future electricity
• Farouk, I. (2025). Evaluation of energy scenarios for Malaysia. ScienceDirect
• ArXiv. (2019). Power grid with 100% renewable energy for small island developing states