Malaysian data centers consume more power in the face of high temperatures

Officials said that Malaysia's data centers are using more power as the temperatures rise. This leaves a gap of 9 gigawatts in gas-fired energy capacity for the government to fill by 2032.

Siti Saffinah Salleh, CEO of the Energy Commission, said on Tuesday that data centres' share in total power consumption had risen to a new record of 9.3%, up from an average of only 7% in this year.

She said that the cooling system would require more energy as the weather became hotter.

Malaysia's Economy Minister?Akmal Nassir stated that the nation's gas-fired capacity will need to be increased by 9 GW in 2032 as the coal-fired energy is gradually phased out.

Akmal, a Malaysian energy commissioner, told reporters that Malaysia will retire its last coal-fired plants by 2044.

Malaysia has attracted billions of dollars from global tech giants including Amazon and Microsoft. It is using its gas reserves to address rising electricity demand and counter a regional drop in gas-fired power generation due to the Iran War, which chokes off liquefied gas imports.

Malaysia, however, will "optimise its current fleet" to meet the rising demand by 2027 as no new gas-fired electricity is expected to be installed this year or next.

Salleh said the energy commission didn't expect hot weather to last beyond early September. She also claimed that this resulted in a higher use of power.

She said that because of the heat, hydro dam levels were also very low.

(source: Reuters)