Malaysia’s national grid operates as such: customers are connected with power from hydroelectric and thermal plants through a network system made up of transmission lines, substations and distribution lines. The performance of electricity suppliers thus depends not only on the operations within power plants, but also on substations and the efficiency of transmission cables.
According to the Energy Commission of Malaysia, the maximum demand for electricity should not (at any given time) exceed the total generation capacity installed. Maximum demand is the capacity of electricity usage within a particular grid system and gauges the amount of electricity used by customers. It is calculated as double the highest amount of electricity used (in kWh) within any consecutive period of 30 minutes in a month but may not necessarily reflect the final amount of consumption within the system. Installed generation capacity on the other hand is the amount of electricity that a generator can produce at any given time.
Figures 2, 3 and 4 compare the installed capacity and maximum demand in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. We can see very clearly that both installed capacity and maximum demand have been on the rise, unsurprising given the rise of the Internet age and the amount of electrical energy required to be connected online. Installed capacity has exceeded maximum demand at all points in time along each graph, ensuring that TNB, SEB and SESB have the capacity to provide electricity to their customers.
