TNB to boost coal import to nearly 40m tons in 2019

By Thomas Sembiring

Malaysia?s power giant Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) said it will boost its coal import to around 39.5 million tons in 2019 as more coal-fired power plants are being developed.

?We expect that by 2019, we?ll be importing almost 40 million ton of coal? said Zainal Abidin Shah bin Mahamood, Managing Director of TNB Fuel Service Sdn Bhd on the sidelines of the recent 4th Annual Coal Buyers and Producers Meeting organized by Petromindo.com

TNB currently imports around 23 million tons of coal per year for its five coal-fired power plants.

Coal currently accounts for about 41.4 percent of Malaysia?s energy mix (equal to 48.2 GWh, while gas accounts for 51.5 percent. But in 2019, coal is projected to account for about 64.2 percent of the energy mix while gas will decline to 27.7 percent.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak