@Green March/April 2026 | Page 2

@ green | March-April. 2026

@ green says...

Malaysia stands today at a curious crossroads.

The nation is producing more clean energy than ever before— solar panels stretching across rooftops and fields, policy frameworks nudging industries toward decarbonisation, and a growing chorus of support for sustainability. On paper, the transition is underway. In reality, however, something far more fundamental is holding it back.

We are generating power. But we are struggling to move it. The crisis is not one of ambition. It is one of connections.

Renewable energy does not behave like the fuels of the past. It rises with the sun, fades with the clouds, and disappears at dusk. For decades, Malaysia’ s energy system was built on predictability— coal and gas plants delivering steady output into a grid designed for stability, not fluctuation. Today, that assumption is being tested.

At the heart of it lies grid stability— the unseen discipline that keeps electricity flowing seamlessly. Every second, supply must match demand- too much, and systems overload. Too little, and the lights go out. Renewable energy, for all its promise, complicates that balance.

And so, the paradox emerges. Solar farms are ready. Investments are flowing. Yet the grid- ageing, constrained, and in need of rapid modernisation- cannot always keep pace. Energy is produced, but not fully absorbed. Capacity is built, but not fully utilised.

This is not Malaysia’ s challenge alone. Across ASEAN, the same story unfolds in different accents. Vietnam surged ahead in solar, only to find its grid lagging.

Indonesia treads cautiously between coal dependence and renewable ambition. The long-discussed ASEAN Power Grid remains more vision than reality- its promise tempered by politics, financing gaps, and fragmented regulation.

Beyond the region, the pattern repeats. Europe has, at times, wasted wind energy it could not transmit. In the United States, renewable projects wait in long queues for connection approvals.

The world, it seems, has learnt to generate green energy faster than to deliver it.

For Malaysia, the stakes are rising. Data centres are expanding. Electric vehicles are no longer a distant prospect. Industries are under pressure to decarbonise. Demand will surge- and with it, the strain on an already stretched system.

Without decisive investment in grid infrastructure, storage, and smarter energy management, the transition risks slowing at the very moment it should accelerate. Gas, for now, remains the quiet stabiliser- necessary, but inconvenient to long-term goals.

The lesson is stark. Energy transition is no longer about building more power. It is about building the means to carry it across distances, across borders, across time itself. Because in the end, power that cannot move is power that cannot matter.

P04 | LOCAL NEWS Scaling biomass use GAS Malaysia Berhad and Wasco Greenery Berhad partnership signals regional shift toward cleaner industrial energy.

P05 | LOCAL NEWS Hydrogen project setback The H2biscus and H2ornbill projects were scaled down due to challenges in securing long-term off-take agreements.

P06 | FOREIGN NEWS Europe’ s solar shift Germany leads the transition to solar shift due to high energy costs and geopolitical tensions.

P07 | FOREIGN NEWS Earth fund urgency The Bezos Earth Fund is accelerating climate spending, with billions yet to be deployed before 2030.

P08-11 | COVER STORY Where logistic meet sustainability Swift Haulage Berhad is leading the logistics as an ESG-driven function through advancing their green logistics and collaboration with MAPAN ESG Industry & Academic Summit 2026.

P12-13 | FEATURE Guarding the city’ s green soul The latest gazettement has opened 45 more green and open spaces in Kuala Lumpur.

P14-15 | COLUMN The urgent case for smarter designs Smarter and decentralised systems can reduce vulnerability and strengthen long-term resilience across Malaysia’ s infrastructure.

P16 | ESG COVER When carbon becomes currency The NCMP repositions emissions as a central factor in business decisions and national competitiveness.

P17 | ESG Powering the future at scale Malaysia’ s commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 is further solidified with the addition of 2 gigawatts( GW) of renewable energy annually.

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