This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 1, 2025 - December 7, 2025

THE repowering exercise to replace the power plants that were retired in recent years is expected to begin soon.

More than five new gas-fired power plants are to be awarded via direct negotiations, according to industry sources. However, not all of them will start at the same time as some developers are having problems in securing gas turbines while others are facing financial constraints.

The players in the picture include Tenaga Nasional Bhd (KL:TENAGA) and first-generation independent power producers YTL Power International Bhd (KL:YTLPOWR) and Malakoff Corp Bhd (KL:MALAKOF) that have made progress in previously announced projects and several new ones.

Tenaga and YTL Power had not responded to The Edge’s request for comments on the matter at the time of writing. Malakoff declined to comment. 

It is understood that these projects are planned to be located on or near existing sites, especially where older power plants had been decommissioned, which will enable the players to utilise existing infrastructure and connectivity such as pipelines.

These plants are said to come with power purchase agreements (PPAs) with a tenure of 20 years and are slated to be commissioned before 2030.

The PPAs for the new power plants have not been signed yet because the details, such as tariff rates, and the players’ readiness to plant up given a global supply crunch of gas turbines, need to be sorted out, say sources familiar with the matter. Currently, there is a shortage of gas turbines, which are produced by only a few players the world over.

Early last month, Tenaga closed a pre-qualification exercise for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contractor for the development of a 700mw to 750mw gas turbine power plant in Pasir Gudang, Johor, according to a pre-qualification notice sighted by The Edge. It is understood that the project would be undertaken with YTL Power.

According to a separate tender notice document, Tenaga, together with AM Generation Sdn Bhd, closed a similar pre-qualification exercise in May for an EPCC contractor for a 1,400mw power plant in Paka, Terengganu — a project for which it had secured a letter of intent (LoI) from the government in 2022.

AM Generation is an indirectly, 100%-owned entity by Terengganu’s Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, according to company checks.

Separately, Malakoff, which is linked to Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, is understood to have received a letter of notification for another power plant project in Segari, Perak, where it currently operates a 1,303mw plant which will be retired in 2027.

At the same time, Malakoff is expected to secure a power plant project with a capacity of 1,400mw at the site of its old plant in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, where demolition has been done “to make way for a new combined-cycle gas turbine plant”, says a source.

In October, Malakoff said it had secured the supply and options for gas turbines from Mitsubishi Power for two 1,400mw power plants, one each in the north and the south. 

Apart from that, there is a 1,400mw project linked to Teknologi Tenaga Perlis Consortium Sdn Bhd (TTPC) in Perlis.

TTPC is to replace a gas-fired 650mw power plant that was retired in 1Q2024 in the northern state. Kinergy Advancement Bhd (KL:KAB) and Tenaga are the shareholders of TTPC, holding 80% and 20% of it respectively.

Tenaga had received a separate LoI for a 2,100mw gas plant in Kapar, Selangor, which had listed Widad Group Bhd (KL:WIDAD) as a 40% partner when it was first announced.

There has been little update on another 1,200mw power plant in Gurun, Kedah, by THB Power Sdn Bhd, apart from its legal tussle with Mudajaya Group Bhd (KL:MUDAJYA) over a site preparation work payment. THB Power is 70%-owned by Tunku Bendahara Kedah, Tan Sri Tunku Abdul Hamid Thani, company checks show.

While the country has planned the retirement of more than 4,300mw of thermal capacity in 2029 alone, this projection was based on a 2021 report. It has been more than four years since the government last released its report on Peninsular Malaysia’s power generation plan to the public.

And in early November, the Dewan Rakyat was told that power-guzzling data centres were consuming just 47% of their declared maximum demand.

The new power projects come even as the government has announced a slew of initiatives that could reduce its dependence on the centralised grid, such as allowing companies to build solar farms that supply directly to end-customers.

Those who recently announced solar energy ventures include SD Guthrie Bhd (KL:SDG), which wants to supply solar power to an adjacent industrial park; Khazanah-linked power firm UEM Lestra Bhd totalling 1gw; and Ditrolic Energy, which is spearheading a 4gw solar park to supply both the domestic and Singaporean markets.

Additionally, the government is looking into the proposals submitted for gas-powered plant projects under a request for proposal (RFP) that closed in September. It is understood that fewer than half of the bidders have been shortlisted for further assessment.

Other than the gas-fired power plants, the coal-powered plants, which are typically bigger in capacity, are also going to be phased as scheduled as the government commits to its net zero ambition. With regard to the dirty fossil fuel-powered plants, the government has yet to decide how it will replace them.

These plants include the nearly 1,500mw Sultan Aziz Power Station in Kapar, which is 60:40-owned by Tenaga and Malakoff (retiring in July 2029); 2,070mw TNB Janamanjung plant in Perak (August 2030); and the 2,100mw Tanjung Bin power plant that is 90%-owned by Malakoff (September 2031), according to data from the Grid System Operator. 

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play.