Regional Coal: Malaysia aims for complete retirement of coal-fired power plants by 2044

Malaysia has announced a comprehensive plan to phase out its coal-fired power plants, targeting a reduction to 50% by 2035 and a complete retirement by 2044, according to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof as quoted by theedgemalaysia.com on Tuesday. The announcement was made during the London Climate Action Week at a high-level dialogue session for a global coal phase-out organized by the Powering Past Coal Alliance, co-chaired by the United Kingdom, Canada, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

This initiative follows Malaysia’s 2022 pledge to halt the construction of new coal-fired power plants from 2040 onwards. “Malaysia is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, despite contributing only 0.8% of global emissions. Transitioning away from coal-fired power generation, which accounts for nearly half of our national emissions, is crucial,” Fadillah stated.

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Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) targets a renewable energy (RE) capacity of 70% by 2050, incorporating solar, biomass, and waste-to-energy sources. Other initiatives include grid modernization and the Malaysia Energy Exchange, launched earlier this year to facilitate cross-border RE trade.

The plan to retire coal-fired power plants by 2044 is ahead of the NETR's initial estimate of 2045, driven by the natural retirement timeline of existing plants. Tenaga Nasional Bhd announced in August 2022 that it would retire selected coal-fired power plants earlier than planned.

As of 2020, coal made up 26.4% of Malaysia's total primary energy supply, with natural gas at 42.4% and renewables at 3.9%. The NETR projects natural gas to play a significant role in replacing coal, accounting for over half of the total primary energy supply by 2050.

Editing by Alexander Ginting