BALI: The federal government has agreed in principle for Sarawak to supply its energy to Singapore.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the project supplying a maximum of 1,000MW energy to Singapore will begin its feasibility study.
He said the project also includes the establishment of an undersea power cable connecting Tondong in Sarawak to Singapore.
Previously, Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) had completed comprehensive technical studies with its partners Sembcorp Industries and Singapore Power Group for this matter.
“The federal government has given the green light for our discussions and the implementation of the project has been approved in principle. This development will further strengthen the ties between Malaysia and Singapore,” he said.
He said this when met by reporters at the 2023 World Hydropower Congress on Tuesday (Oct 31) at Bali Nusa Dua Convention Centre here.
On his meeting with former Prime Minister of Australia and President Designate of International Hydropower Association (IHA) Malcolm Turnbull, Abang Johari said they discussed about the potential of energy production through hydro in the region.
He said Turnbull who is an expert in hydro engineering also shared about his experience producing hydro energy through hydro pump in Australia.
“We also discussed about the strengths of Sarawak where the state has advantages from the point of rainfall and rivers as compared to Australia which is a country that experience lesser rainfall. There is a possibility that we can actually not depend on hydro pumps, but go for natural hydro which hopefully does not affect the environment.
“This is why we have identified alternative from the reservoir because we have tributaries that we can study to produce hydro energy through running water. In fact, SEB already has a project in Lawas that uses the same system to produce hydro, but we want to scale it up,” he said.
Abang Johari pointed out that Sarawak has the potential to generate 20,00MW of hydroelectricity according to a study report.
He said the state has produced 7,000MW thus far with a remaining of 13,000MW.
“So, I have asked SEB to revisit this, but we will target 20,000MW first by using what we have available. Turnbull also gave a shadow about the future potential of hydro,” he said.
Abaang Johari said Sarawak has its strengths even though it is not similar to Indonesia which has a super grid connecting its many islands.
“With the 2023 World Hydropower Congress, we will look at the usage of renewable energy at the micro level. We will find out where Sarawak stands and conduct studies on the methodology for us to produce energy,” he said.
