Development of privatized power industry in Malaysia

In the last few decades reliable supply of electric power has become a central issue in the development and economic prosperity of any country. There have been far reaching and radical developments taking place in the electric power industry. Among other developments, privatization trends in power generation are having significant implications on the planning and operation of electric utilities. Over the last few years, Malaysia has experienced a rapid economic growth resulting in an ever increasing demand of electricity. This has prompted the Government of Malaysia to invite private power companies to build, own and operate power generation facilities to meet the growing needs of electric power in the country. This paper provides an overview of the development of the privatized power industry in Malaysia and the government efforts to liberalise the electric power sector in order to create an environment of increased competition and efficiency. The paper presents brief history of the private power generation in the country, and provides the information regarding technical, financial and commercial aspects of the power generation projects constructed in the private sector. Finally, the paper presents a case study on the implementation of a private gas turbine power plant project by Powertek, and various technical and operational issues confronted by the owners of the project.