KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- El Niño could heighten heat and drought risks in Malaysia and exacerbate electricity and water stress into 2027, a research house said in its recent report.
CIMB Securities said in a note that the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) sees a 100 percent probability of El Niño persisting into early 2027, while MetMalaysia expects the weather phenomenon to peak between March and May 2027, raising the risk of hotter and drier conditions.
"We believe these conditions could exacerbate existing structural pressures on Malaysia's electricity and water systems," said the research house.
In Malaysia, more than one-third of treated water is lost before reaching paying customers. However, the 2.5 billion ringgit (610 million U.S. dollars) National NRW Program and 1.7 billion ringgit pipe replacement allocation under the 13th Malaysia Plan provide a sizeable funding pool to address ageing water networks, CIMB Securities said.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's peak electricity demand is forecast to grow at a 5.1 percent compound annual growth rate to 33.5 GW by 2035, while data centers could account for 31 percent of Peninsular Malaysia's electricity demand by then.
"In our view, hotter and drier conditions could further strain both systems, strengthening the need for cooling efficiency, water conservation and better infrastructure management," it said.
Together with rising water demand, tariff reform, and government-led infrastructure upgrades, the research house opined that these factors should accelerate the adoption of energy- and water-efficiency solutions in Malaysia. ■