Malaysian utility company Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) has officially commissioned a major battery energy storage system (BESS) project aimed at improving grid stability and supporting renewable energy integration in the country. The project, known as the Santong BESS, has a capacity of 100MW/400MWh and was inaugurated during a ceremony held on May 18. The event was attended by several dignitaries, including Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, Amar Fadillah Yusof.
The Santong BESS is located in Dungun District in the state of Terengganu, around 360 kilometers northeast of Kuala Lumpur. The system has been connected to the 132/33kV Santong BESS Main Input Substation and is designed to strengthen the electricity network on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The project is equipped with advanced grid-forming inverters, which help stabilize electricity supply and support the growing share of renewable energy in the country’s power mix.
The project is aligned with Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR), which targets increasing renewable energy capacity to 70% by 2050. The roadmap also includes plans for deploying 500MW of battery energy storage systems by 2030 to improve energy reliability and flexibility.
According to TNB CEO Shamsul bin Ahmad, the liquid-cooled battery storage project will help balance fluctuations in electricity supply and demand in real time. He stated that the system will play a key role during peak demand periods and system disruptions, reducing pressure on the grid and improving overall power stability. The BESS is also expected to support larger-scale solar energy integration into the national grid.
TNB serves more than 11 million customers across Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and Labuan. Besides operating as an electricity supplier, the company also manages transmission and distribution networks in the region. The utility currently has 3.3GW of power generation capacity, including 2.5GW of large-scale hydroelectric power.
The Santong BESS is considered one of Malaysia’s first grid-connected utility-scale battery storage projects in Peninsular Malaysia. Earlier, another 100MW/400MWh project, the Lahad Datu BESS in Sabah, was inaugurated in late 2025 and became Southeast Asia’s largest battery storage project in terms of energy capacity. Meanwhile, Malaysia’s MyBeST tender program launched in 2024 is expected to add four more large-scale BESS projects by 2027.
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