In this paper, based on the multi-symplectic formulations of the generalized fifth-order KdV equation and the averaged vector field method, two new energy-preserving methods are proposed, including a new local energy-preserving algorithm which is independent of the boundary conditions and a new global energy-preserving method. We prove that the proposed methods preserve the energy conservation laws exactly. Numerical experiments are carried out, which demonstrate that the numerical methods proposed in the paper preserve energy well.