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Why Nuclear Despite High Reserve Margin?Print this page 

One of commonly raised question is why does Peninsular Malaysia still need to install nuclear plants despite having high reserve margin.

At present, the peak demand stands at 15,072 MW, as recorded on 25 May 2010. This translates into reserve margin of approximately 40%. The reserve level is not here to stay. With annual load growth and retirement of existing capacity as they reach their economic life, the reserve margin will drop eventually.

Electricity demand in Peninsular Malaysia is expected to grow at 3-5% annually from 2010 until 2020. In 2020, peak demand is forecasted at 20,669 MW while energy generation is projected to reach 138,510 GWh.

In Peninsular Malaysia, there is no new plant scheduled for installation from now until 2015. Hence, with no added capacity from new plants, higher electricity demand and retirements of older plants, reserve margin is expected to reduce. In 2015, it would settle at approximately 20%.

The figure below shows the decreasing trend of reserve margin due to increasing demand forecast (assuming no new load is introduced to the system). 

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