Floods: Landslide causes Sultan Mahmud Power Station in Hulu T'ganu to shut down temporarily

KUALA TERENGGANU: The Sultan Mahmud Power Station (SJSM) in Kenyir near Hulu Terengganu has been temporarily shut down since Sunday (Feb 27) after the high voltage transmission tower, which supplies electricity from SJSM to the National Grid, collapsed due to a landslide.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) president and chief executive officer Datuk Baharin Din said the unusually heavy and continuous rain since Friday (Feb 25) had resulted in a landslide that cut off access to SJSM at 4am on Sunday.

"The sediment then flowed into Sungai Terengganu. Six hours later, another landslide occurred, causing a bridge and a 132kV transmission tower to collapse.

"TNB then immediately stopped SJSM's operations and evacuated all employees from the station," he said in a statement Wednesday (March 31).

He said TNB had activated its Business Continuity Plan (emergency action plan) as soon as the landslide occurred to take immediate action to address the situation, including coordinating with the stakeholders, government agencies and other departments at TNB.

"Other measures taken included assessing the impact of the incident on the dam structure and the implementation of remedial measures to restore SJSM's operations. The initial assessment found that the integrity of the dam structure remained strong and safe and the situation around Lake Kenyir was also safe.

"TNB will also work with the Public Works Department (JKR) to monitor the slope condition and seek the services of external consultants to make a detailed assessment of the integrity of the dam," he said.

TNB expects repairs to take almost six months as it also includes clearing all obstructions and flood silt, minimising the effects of erosion and preventing the possibility of further erosion and maintenance of power-generating equipment and assets.

"Appropriate measures have also been taken to ensure the security of the station is under control.

"TNB assures that during the temporary closure of SJSM, which has a total capacity of 400 megawatts, electricity supply to consumers in the East Coast will not be affected because it can be supplied through other sources via the National Grid system," he said. - Bernama