The Asia-Pacific region requires $88.7 trillion in energy investment until 2050 to achieve its growth ambitions even as it aims to achieve net zero emissions, Malaysian state-owned oil company Petronas' chief executive officer Muhammad Taufik said today.
The global energy system is at risk because of protracted geopolitical conflict, and investment across both conventional and renewable energy systems is required, said Taufik at the Energy Asia conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
"In the past few days, the escalation of conflict around the strait of Hormuz where 18mn-19mn barrels of oil — or 20pc of total global supply — flow through every day, has sent prices surging in anticipation of a supply shock," Taufik said. "We must remember this is unfolding at a time when the world is still reeling from the spectre of reciprocal tariffs," he added.
"We must invest in improving efficiency and reducing emissions within our existing energy systems," said Malaysia's prime minister Anwar Ibrahim at the conference. But given that fossil fuels still account for almost 80pc of global energy supply, "it would be ridiculous to assume that we must part from this traditional dependence without giving opportunity for us to grow confidently and also to be able to meet the demand of the new centres and new technology," Anwar said.
Electricity demand from data centres is set to reach 945TWh globally by 2030, more than double the 415TWh in 2024, said Taufik. Data centre capacity in the Asia-Pacific region is projected to double by 2028, and entire energy systems are now working to meet this surge in demand, he added.
Upgrading electricity grids is a critical pillar in advancing the energy transition, said Anwar. In line with this, Malaysia's state-owned utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad has committed 43bn ringgit ($10bn) to upgrade the country's grid infrastructure, incorporating artificial intelligence and battery energy systems to build greater resilience and flexibility for the future, he said.
