Malaysia Plans Separate Power Wholesale Market for Data Centers and Other Large Users

According to Jin10, Malaysia plans to establish a separate wholesale electricity market for large power users, including data centers, the New Straits Times reported. The newspaper quoted Rumaizi Abdul Halim, the Energy Commission's director of market regulation and planning, as saying the existing “single-buyer” electricity market serving households, factories, and commercial premises will remain unchanged. One operator will manage both markets, while details on how they will connect are to be discussed later. The move comes as Malaysia seeks to become a regional data center hub and addresses potential effects of that effort. The Southeast Asian country has attracted investments in artificial intelligence from technology companies including Oracle and Amazon. Google also announced last week that it plans to invest $15 billion to expand its data center and cloud businesses in Malaysia.