Malaysia Energy Transition

Research evidence excerpt

Malaysia Energy Transition

Macquarie Equity Research

18 May 2026

Utilities

ASEANMalaysia Energy Transition

CRESS: Decoded

Colin Andrew

Key Points Lee San, CFA

• The DC ramp in Malaysia necessitates more power generation capacity,

with solar leading the way as the top choice.

• CRESS program take-up rate is expected to accelerate after the latest AmandaFoo

revisions, as it remains the best solution to meet the DC power needs.

• Tenaga remains our top pick for utilities as it is expected to be a key

beneficiary, both as a solar producer as well as upside from SAC. Key beneficiaries highlighted

• Addressing the gap with solar. We believe solar remains the best

solution to meet growing power needs within the required timeline,

thanks to its shorter COD timeframe. While Corporate Renewable Energy

Supply Scheme (CRESS) take-up has been slow, we believe it is primed

for acceleration amid the current wave of DC investments in Malaysia.

Further, should authorities impose a minimum renewable energy (RE)

Source: Bloomberg, Macquarie Research, May 2026

requirement for DC applications and also lower system access charges

(SAC) following the current revision, this should catalyse more CRESS Reserve margin could potentially

project announcements and also commencement of EPCC work. reach 13% by 2030

• Balancing demand growth and reserve margin. The urgency of

such solutions is underscored by tightening supply dynamics. With

the recently concluded NewGen25 exercise yielding only 1.4GW of

new brown generation capacity, we see a growing need for additional

generation across both brown and green sources in order to meet rising

electricity demand especially from DCs. Our calculations indicate that

reserve margin was ~25% in 2025, and this is expected to reach ~13%