KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called on the country to ensure the success of its energy transition and artificial intelligence (AI) agenda reaches every Malaysian, especially consumers at all levels.
“We would be failing in our duty to make sure that the success is shared not only by the common staff at all levels, but more so to the consumers, particularly the poor and the marginalised,” he said in his keynote address at the Energy Transition Conference (ETCon26) by Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre today.
He said the world was in the grip of an escalating energy crisis, with its shockwaves already being felt across the region.
“Stemming from the streets of Hormuz, the epicentre is nowhere near here. But its tremors rumble across the entire region, straining the supply lines that feed industries and power poles and triggering energy emergencies in ASEAN, neighbouring countries, and in fact, the ramifications throughout the world,” he said.
“This crisis compels us to confront the reality that fossil fuels, which has powered our civilisation since the industrial age, is not just finite, but may be less secure and reliable than we once assumed,” he added.
He said the region’s energy demand was projected to increase by more than 60 per cent by 2040, driven by urbanisation, industrialisation and the rapid expansion of AI, with data centres and advanced computing requiring unprecedented levels of electricity.
On regional energy cooperation, Anwar said ASEAN leaders had agreed at the recent ASEAN Summit in Cebu, the Philippines, to operationalise the ASEAN Power Grid, with the bloc entrusted to ensure the project is fast-tracked.
Anwar said TNB had been a pillar in driving the ASEAN Power Grid, adding that its role in achieving the programme was “very critical.”
He said the initiative was not starting from scratch, pointing to an existing multilateral cross-border electricity arrangement involving renewable hydropower from Laos PDR, transmitted through Thailand and Malaysia into Singapore.
“This pioneering initiative has demonstrated not only the technical feasibility of regional energy integration, but also ASEAN’s ability to translate shared ambition into tangible cooperation,” he said.
Meanwhile, on AI, Anwar said those engaging with new technology must consider its broader implications.
“Anyone wanting to engage in new technology, including the AI, must look at, of course, the requirement in terms of its technological advancement, but at the same time must also look at the implications, the impact, on what we term here as the Madani framework, which stresses on the importance of humanity and values,” he explained.
He said AI presented opportunities to strengthen energy systems, from improving grid efficiency to forecasting renewable energy generation to optimising industrial energy use, but cautioned that its growth must not outpace the sustainability ambitions it was also expected to support.
He said Malaysia had emerged as a key destination for major data centre investments, particularly in Johor, Klang Valley and Sarawak.
The Prime Minister expressed full confidence in TNB’s ability to guide the country’s energy transition and deliver on the promises of AI and energy.