PETALING JAYA: The government is considering nuclear energy as an option to meet the growing electricity demand from data centres, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said.
Fadillah, who is also Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister, said Malaysia must first conduct a thorough assessment and ensure compliance with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards on safety, regulation, manpower and technology.
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“We need to conduct a thorough assessment with experienced international parties before considering nuclear energy as one of our energy sources,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal (PN-Machang), who asked how the government would protect public water and electricity supplies from rising data centre demand during droughts or supply disruptions. He also sought clarification on possible emergency usage restrictions, development restrictions in certain areas and requirements for data centres to use recycled water.
Fadillah said the government would support business-to-business (B2B) partnerships between energy suppliers and data centre operators interested in exploring nuclear power.
Citing Indonesia as an example, he said cooperation involving Russia’s nuclear energy company, Rosatom State Corporation, concerned mining operations rather than government contracts.
“The arrangement in Indonesia does not involve a government contract but concerns mining operations that require substantial amounts of energy.
“The cooperation is conducted on a B2B basis between Indonesian mining companies and Russia’s Rosatom State Corporation,” he said.
On the environmental impact of data centre operations, Fadillah said the matter fell under the purview of the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry (NRES).
He said the ministry was responsible for conducting the necessary assessments to ensure data centre developments complied with relevant requirements, including applicable international standards.
“I believe these assessments are already being carried out before a data centre is allowed to be built,” he said.
Fadillah said data centre operators were required to maintain at least two days’ worth of on-site water storage, while their proposals were assessed by the Data Centre Task Force (DCTF), which is jointly managed by the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry and the Digital Ministry.
He said areas with low water reserves would not be considered for new data centre developments, based on recommendations from state water operators.
“The National Water Services Commission (SPAN) also requires developers and operators to consider alternative water sources for cooling, such as recycled and reclaimed water, as well as rainwater harvesting.
“Water operators have emergency response plans that include supplying water through tanker lorries, deploying static water tanks and arranging interstate assistance coordinated by SPAN.
“In cases of critically low supply, authorities could introduce scheduled water distribution or rationing as mitigation measures,” he said.
Fadillah said data centre applications underwent assessment by the Energy Focus Group under the Energy Commission before being referred to the DCTF. Operators were also encouraged to generate their own electricity through the Solar for Self-Consumption initiative to avoid passing additional costs on to other consumers.
“The government has also approved a requirement for data centres to obtain at least 30% of their energy from renewable sources.
“Backup generators would provide additional support during periods of low electricity reserves,” he said.
As of August, data centres had contracted 2,346 megawatts (MW) of electricity, but their actual consumption stood at 1,374MW, equivalent to 58.5% of their contracted capacity.
Fadillah said actual electricity consumption could be lower than initially estimated when operators applied for electricity supply contracts.
