in the British Parliament that : “ on no one quality , on no one process , on no one country , on no one route , and on no one field , must we be dependent — safety and security in fuel ( oil ) lie in variety and variety alone ” [ Ref . 1 ]. This doctrine is proven true for the modern society of today and the future .
Electricity , which is electromagnetism-based , at point-of-use will undoubtedly continue to be numero uno in terms of energy use in the 21 st century and beyond , compared to other forms of hydrocarbon-based energy use . Thus , national energy security policy must necessarily address the electricity demand-generation balance .
Malaysia , being a parliamentary democracy and evolving towards a developed nation status , must rise over partisan politics to address this issue . Long-term electrical power system planning is all about power / energy generation expansion programmes and the associated strengthening / development of the national highvoltage transmission power grid infrastructure . This demand-generation expansion planning will continue to seek out conventional generating plant candidates that utilise carbon-based fossilfuels , both gas and / or coal , for Malaysia ’ s future electricity supply-side planting-up programme , besides Renewable Energy plants ( mainly Large- Scale Solar Photovoltaic ) and demand-side Energy Efficiency initiatives .
Understanding Electricity Demand- Generation Balance
It is critical that Malaysia continues to have reliable and secure supplies of electricity for “ keeping the lights on ” and “ powering up the nation ”. Electricity delivers a precision unmatched by any other form of energy . It is also almost infinitely versatile in how it can be used .
Electricity has a unique characteristic : once it is generated it has to be consumed , such that at any point in time , the demand for it must be met exactly and simultaneously by its supply . This requires an operating reserve margin of spare capacity to accommodate fluctuations in supply or demand so as to keep the power system frequency at every instance within a very tightly controlled band of 50 Hertz ( cycles per second ), as shown in Figure 1 .
Operating reserve margin is the stabiliser — the extra production capacity above projected
Figure 1 : Electricity Demand-Generation Balance
peak power demand — that can be called into operation in order to avoid a shortage . Maintaining such a margin is a basic rule of operations ; the power system in its entirety needs to be large enough not just to cover average demand but the extremes of demand , with an additional reserve to allow for malfunctioning plants and / or equipment . For the Peninsular Malaysia power system , the reserve margin is normally held at around 15 % to 25 %, which is consistent with the reliability standard of 1 day per year Loss of Load Probability ( LOLP ).
The generating capacity and any associated supply chains , such as fuel for power generating stations , must be reliable enough to meet demand as it arises . There is also the need to have a diverse mix of technologies and fuels , so that the nation does not rely on any one technology or fuel for electrical power generation . There should also be effective price signals , so that market participants have sufficient incentive to react in a timely way to minimise imbalances between supply and demand .
Electricity / Energy security is also closely linked to global climate change , which impacts environmental well-being and security . Human activities are contributing the most to climate change through carbon greenhouse gases emissions and change in land use . The Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded that carbon dioxide ( CO 2
) emitted globally from fossil fuels made up approximately 56 % of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions , with changes in land use which includes deforestation making up almost 19 % and roughly 26 % of CO 2 emissions originating from electricity-generating power plants globally .
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