KUCHING: Power supply in Bario, which was interrupted since last Friday, has been successfully restored by 3pm yesterday. Of the 12 affected villages, only Pa Derung has to wait until this (Monday) afternoon to get its power restored. Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) in a press statement yesterday, said a technical support team from Sibu was also flown in to Bario by chartered helicopter yesterday to help speed up the restoration work to the affected villages.
Eleven other villages affected by the power interruption are Kampung Baru, Padang Pasir, Ulung Palang Atas, Ulung Palang Bawah, Pa Ukat, Pa Umor, Arur Dalan, Bario Asal, Arur Layun, Pa Derung, Pa Ramapuh Atas and Pa Ramapuh Bawah. Power to these villages was interrupted due to technical glitch at SEB’s Bario Central Solar Hybrid Power Station. The power cut occurred during the switch-over from the solargenerated power station to the power plant’s back-up diesel generators. SEB said the switch-over was inevitable following the prolonged cloudy weather which affected solar generation.
SEB said a total of three technical support teams including one from Miri and the other based in Bario helped in the restoration work. SEB was forced to delay in deploying technical support teams from Sibu and Miri to assist the local support team for the restoration work due to the unpermitted weather condition. “Their deployment was delayed due to the challenging terrain and rainy weather which affected timber track conditions, normally used to access Bario which has limited air connectivity. Under normal conditions, the journey via timber track from the Miri based technical team would take approximately 14 hours.
