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Electricity in Malaysia in 2024/2025

1,172 kWh/person Low-Carbon Electricity
+130 #103
5,192 kWh/person Total Electricity
-320 #109
541 gCO2eq/kWh Carbon Intensity
+106 #205
23 % Low-Carbon Electricity
-7.0 #138

As of the period from September 2024 to August 2025, Malaysia's electricity consumption heavily relies on fossil fuels, with over three-quarters of its electricity generated from this source. Specifically, coal contributes almost 45%, while gas accounts for about 31%. In contrast, low-carbon energy sources make up slightly more than a fifth of the total, indicating room for improvement. Hydropower is the largest clean energy contributor at around 18%, followed by biofuels and solar energy, which account for a small fraction of 2.5% and 1.8% respectively. This distribution highlights a significant reliance on fossil fuels, with low-carbon options still a minor presence in Malaysia's electricity portfolio.

Is Electricity Growing in Malaysia?

Electricity consumption in Malaysia appears to be on a recent decline, as shown by the decrease to 5192 kWh/person in 2025, down from a previous high of 5512 kWh/person in 2024. This drop of 320 kWh/person suggests a worrying reduction in total electricity usage. However, in contrast, there is promising growth in low-carbon electricity generation, which increased to 1172 kWh/person in 2025 from the prior year, showing a positive shift upwards by 130 kWh/person. While overall electricity consumption shows signs of decrease, the advancement in clean energy adoption underscores a silver lining in Malaysia's efforts to pivot towards more sustainable electricity generation.

Suggestions

To enhance its low-carbon electricity generation, Malaysia could look to regions with significant achievements in solar and nuclear energy. For example, Lebanon generates close to a third of its electricity from solar energy, illustrating a pathway to significantly expand solar power. On the nuclear energy front, countries like France and Slovakia demonstrate the potential of nuclear energy, with more than half of their electricity generated from this source, serving as leading examples for Malaysia. Observing these successful regions, Malaysia could strategize on increasing solar installations and consider developing a robust nuclear energy sector to meet the rising demand for clean electricity while simultaneously reducing dependency on fossil fuels.

Overall Generation
Renewable & Nuclear

History

The history of low-carbon electricity in Malaysia has been marked by periods of growth and slight contractions, primarily within the hydro sector. Starting in the early 1980s, hydropower saw modest growth with fluctuations, such as a noticeable reduction in 1990 and increases like those in 1999 and 2014. However, the most significant surge in hydropower arrived between 2016 and 2017, most notably in 2016 with a substantial increase of over 6 TWh. Recently, the year 2025 showcased further diversification with an uptick in biofuels and hydropower. Despite the mixed historical trends, these recent developments signal Malaysia's ongoing journey towards a cleaner energy landscape.

Electrification

We estimate the degree of electrification by comparing electricity and total energy emissions. More about methodology.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade

Data Sources

For the years 1980 to 1984 the data sources are EIA and IEA (imports/exports) .
For the year 1985 the data sources are Energy Institute and IEA (imports/exports) .
For the year 1986 the data source is Energy Institute .
For the years 1987 to 1989 the data sources are Energy Institute and IEA (imports/exports) .
For the years 1990 to 1992 the data sources are Energy Institute and IEA (imports/exports) .
For the years 1993 to 1994 the data source is IEA .
For the years 1995 to 1996 the data sources are Energy Institute and IEA (imports/exports) .
For the year 1997 the data source is IEA .
For the year 1998 the data sources are Energy Institute and IEA (imports/exports) .
For the years 1999 to 2001 the data source is Energy Institute .
For the years 2002 to 2010 the data sources are Energy Institute and IEA (imports/exports) .
For the years 2011 to 2013 the data source is IEA .
For the years 2014 to 2016 the data source is Ember .
For the year 2017 the data sources are Energy Institute and IEA (imports/exports) .
For the years 2018 to 2019 the data sources are Energy Institute and IEA (imports/exports) .
For the years 2020 to 2024 the data source is Ember .
For the year 2024/2025 the data source is aggregated data from the last 12 months (2024-09 to 2025-08) .
For the months 2024-09 to 2025-08 the data source is Ember .
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