Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) will build two high-technology 1,000 MW coal-fired power plants in Manjung, Perak to meet the increasing demand for electricity.

Its vice-president of generation, Zainuddin Ibrahim, said the two projects will start soon and will be completed within the next four years.

He said power consumption is expected to increase by five percent annually and the two projects are in the company's pipeline.

“The two projects in Manjung are mainly for domestic usage and are expected to be completed in 2017,” he told reporters after launching the 3rd Annual Asian Sub-Bituminous Coal User Group Conference in George Town today.

Zainuddin said on average, Malaysia consumes about 15,000 to 16,000 MW of power daily, with the figure expected to increase annually.

He said TNB’s power generation ratio is 35-40 percent from coal-fired power plants, 50 percent from natural gas and the remainder from renewable energy.

“Our aim is to give the most cost-efficient supply of electricity,” he said.

However, Zainuddin said, coal is one of Malaysia’s most important sources of energy, and over 80 percent of coal in Malaysia is imported from Indonesia, South Africa and Australia.

“We consume about 42 million tonnes of coal annually and the trend will continue to increase,” he said.

He said Asia is the biggest market for coal for power plants, accounting for 67 percent of worldwide demand.

“Over 7.8 billion tonnes of coal were consumed in the world last year with annual growth of 2.9 percent,” he said.

Over 140 industry professionals from 15 countries including Malaysia, the United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Russia are participating at the four-day conference starting yesterday. It is hosted by TNB for the first time.

- Bernama