Power demand in Malaysia has fallen sharply over the past week because of businesses closures intended to slow the spread of coronavirus, with coal-fired generation making up most of the reduction.
Coal-fired generation averaged 7.1GW today, down from 11GW a week earlier. Gas-fired generation slid to 3GW from 5.7GW over the same period.
The Malaysian government introduced a two-week control order from 18 March to restrict population movements, closing all schools and social gatherings and most businesses. Only companies providing essential services in the water, electricity, energy, telecommunications, transport, oil, petrol, safety and defence sectors can remain open. Malaysia has reported 1,518 cases of coronavirus.
Total power demand averaged 10.5GW today, down from 16.6GW a week earlier. And total demand since the control order came into force has been lower than that normally recorded at weekends, with consumption on the Sunday before the shutdown standing at around 13GW.
Malaysia has 13.53GW of installed coal-fired generation capacity.
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