Sarawak Energy Drives Regional Power Connectivity

By Ammar Shafiq Hamzah

KUCHING, June 26 (Bernama) -- For nearly three decades, the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) initiative has remained one of Southeast Asia’s long-term energy aspirations.

Aimed at strengthening regional electricity interconnections with a focus on enhancing energy security, accessibility and sustainability, the APG has seen gradual progress after years of discussions.

These efforts are being spearheaded by Sarawak Energy, with a current focus on strengthening the Borneo grid as a foundational step towards the broader ASEAN Power Grid.

Sarawak Energy group chief executive officer Datuk Sharbini Suhaili said the state-owned utility is currently driving the Borneo grid through bilateral discussions and arrangements.

“We started exporting power to Kalimantan in 2016, so it has been almost 10 years now. Last December, we also began exporting power to Sabah. At the same time, we are in discussions with Brunei on establishing an interconnection.

“Of course, our priority is to supply electricity to the whole of Sarawak first. However, we believe we have sufficient potential and capacity to supply more power, and would like to share that energy with our neighbours,” he told Bernama in a recent interview.

Sharbini said Sarawak Energy is also advancing plans to strengthen cross-border electricity connectivity beyond Borneo, including a proposed subsea cable project linking Sarawak and Singapore, as well as a potential interconnection between Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.

He said discussions on the Sarawak-Singapore project have been progressing well, with Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) already granting conditional approval. This recognises that the project has been preliminarily assessed to be technically and commercially viable.

“The biggest challenge for the project is that about 80 per cent of the cable route passes through Indonesian waters. Therefore, we need approvals from Indonesia and various related authorities.

“This is something we are working on together with the Sarawak government and our federal counterparts. At the end of the day, it involves government-to-government discussions because it is a cross-border project.

“Once all these approvals and arrangements are in place, we should be able to have the cable project operational around 2033 or 2034,” he said.

To support Sarawak’s growing energy ambitions, Sharbini said the state will continue to leverage its hydropower resources and expand its generation capacity.

“Currently, we have three hydroelectric plants in operation. The first is Batang Ai, which was commissioned around 1985. We also have Bakun and Murum.

“Together, these facilities provide close to 3.6 gigawatts of hydropower capacity,” he said.

He said Sarawak Energy is also constructing the Baleh Hydroelectric Project in Kapit, which will have a capacity of 1,285 megawatts when completed.

“We hope to have Baleh operational by 2030. At present, Sarawak’s total installed generation capacity is about 5.9 gigawatts, of which 3.6 gigawatts comes from hydropower.

“Baleh will play an important role in helping us achieve our target of 10 gigawatts of generation capacity by 2030,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sharbini said Sarawak Energy is also exploring the development of cascading dams across several river basins in the state to generate electricity.

He said 12 river basins have been identified with potential for the project.

“A cascading power system consists of a series of smaller dams or structures. Essentially, it is a run-of-river hydropower system. You can find similar concepts being implemented in Europe and Australia. Instead of constructing one large dam, a series of smaller structures is built along a river.

“At present, we are studying five river basins. We have invited contractors and developers to submit proposals so we can evaluate whether these projects are economically viable,” he added.

-- BERNAMA