KOTA KINABALU: Scheduled power cuts had to be implemented in several districts in Sabah to stabilise the power grid as demand for electricity peaked during the current hot spell.
Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) said in a statement on Tuesday (May 2) that the hot weather had indirectly been increasing the demand for electricity in the state.
On average, the company said, demand at peak times for the Sabah region was around 970 megawatts (MW).
On April 26, Sabah recorded the highest maximum demand so far this year at 1,029MW.
In a statement, the company said its current electricity generation capacity was able to meet the demand but it was hampered when some power generation plants broke down recently.
A breakdown at an independent power plant (IPP) generating 100MW on April 12 forced scheduled cuts due to the resulting drop in overall supply to the Sabah grid.
SESB-owned stations also broke down on Thursday and Friday (April 27 and 28), dropping the power supply by about 40-60MW.
As a result, SESB said it had to schedule power cuts in several districts to stabilise the grid and keep the entire state from experiencing supply disruptions.
SESB chief executive officer Mohd Yaakob Hj Jaafar said SESB was in discussions with the Energy Commission to tackle the problem of a lack of power supply reserves, or reserve margin.
There was a need to add new power plants in Sabah and Labuan to create a surplus, he added.
"SESB is in the process of upgrading the electricity supply system in the state," he said.
Mohd Yaakob said SESB understood the difficulties faced by consumers during a power outage.
At the same time, he also urged the public to understand SESB's constraints and cooperate by monitoring their own power consumption.
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