KUALA LUMPUR (April 6): The percentage of electricity usage in Peninsular Malaysia has declined to 2.2% in 2015 compared to 2.5% in 2014 due to the shift of economic activities from electricity intensive industry to services industry.

The Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili said, "The decline of demand is affected by the shift of economic activities from electricity intensive industry to services industry."

"Besides, energy conservation and implementation (of the) Feed-in Tariff (FiT) programme are also seen to be reasons that affect the growth of electricity demand in 2015.

"Therefore, it is clear that the demand of electricity is closely linked to the economic growth of the country," Ongkili said in a written reply to Hulu Langat MP Che Rosli Che Mat.

Che Rosli has asked the minister to state the volume of electricity required nationwide and in Peninsular Malaysia in view of the rapid development of housing and industry. He also asked about the volume of solar energy contribution in achieving the above requirements.

Ongkili also said the total electricity usage in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah amounted to 109,632 Giga Watt hour (GWH) in 2015, of which 104,652 GWH was used in Peninsular Malaysia and 4,980 GWH in Sabah.

Ongkili also added that renewable energy, including solar power, is also fulfilling the power supply demand in the country.

Through the FiT mechanism, introduced by the government in 2011, the total capacity set up based on renewable energy has reached 332.67MW as at Dec 31, 2015.

A total of 221.33MW is from solar power, which amounted to 0.2% of the total electricity demand in Peninsular Malaysia, Ongkili added.