From June 2025 to May 2026, Malaysia’s electricity consumption was supplied overwhelmingly by fossil fuels, which accounted for about 78% of the total. Coal supplied roughly 43% and gas about 34%. Low-carbon sources provided the remaining 22%, or just over a fifth: hydropower contributed 17%, biofuels around 3%, and solar about 2%. This leaves substantial scope to expand clean electricity and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, along with their climate and air-pollution impacts.

Is Electricity Growing in Malaysia?

Electricity consumption per person is growing, but only slightly. The latest 2026 figure reached 5,364 kWh per person, just 26 kWh—or about 0.5%—above the previous record of 5,338 kWh in 2019. Low-carbon electricity generation, however, slipped to 1,155 kWh per person, down 17 kWh, or roughly 1.5%, from its 2025 record. The new consumption record is welcome, but near-stagnation overall and the decline in clean generation underline the need for faster expansion to support electrification and future demand, including from AI.

Suggestions

Malaysia should prioritize a substantial expansion of solar electricity while developing nuclear power as another major source of low-carbon generation. Relevant Asian examples include Sri Lanka, where solar supplies 15% of electricity, and Pakistan, where it supplies 24%—far above Malaysia’s roughly 2%. Australia also demonstrates solar’s potential, at 21%. For nuclear, Malaysia can learn from South Korea, which generates a quarter of its electricity from nuclear, and the United Arab Emirates, where the share is 20%; France demonstrates the scale achievable, with about two-thirds. Drawing on these regions’ experience in project delivery, workforce development and grid planning could help Malaysia build a much larger clean electricity supply.

History

Malaysia’s low-carbon electricity history has been dominated by hydropower, with uneven growth before a stronger expansion in the 2010s. Hydro generation rose by 1.7 TWh in 1984, while the 1990s brought several declines alongside gains of 1.7 TWh in 1994 and 2.7 TWh in 1999. In the 2000s, hydro fell by 1.8 TWh in 2002 before increasing by 1.3 TWh in 2006, and biofuel generation added 1.2 TWh in 2009. Hydro then grew each year from 2011 through 2014, followed by particularly large increases of 6.1 TWh in 2016 and 6.6 TWh in 2017. More recently, hydro added 1.1 TWh in 2020 and 2.9 TWh in 2021, while biofuels added 3.3 TWh in 2022. A 1 TWh hydro decline in 2023 interrupted progress, but a 3 TWh increase in 2024 marked a welcome recovery.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade

* 12M = Last 12 months (Jun 2025 – May 2026) — a rolling 12-month period, not a calendar year.