KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is awaiting Sarawak’s completion of its portion of the much-anticipated Sabah-Sarawak 275kV transmission grid interconnection project so that both states can proceed with their power supply plans, says Sabah Electricity chief executive officer Mohd Yaakob Jaafar.
He said Sabah completed its portion last year but Sarawak is facing construction delays.
“There is indication that the Sarawak side aims to complete their part this year. But from what we’ve assessed, we might have to wait a little longer,” he said during a visit to the plant in Tenom on Wednesday.
He said Sabah’s power reserve is expected to increase by around 30MW, with the potential to increase to 300MW once the project is completed.
According to Yaakob, this project is critical to Sabah’s power reserve margin and efforts to provide consumers with a stable power supply.
This project received an allocation of RM35mil from the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation.
The Asean power grid interconnection project, which aims to connect the Philippines from Kufat to Pahlawan and from Lahad Datu to Mindanao, as well as link Indonesia through Tawau (Kalabakan) to north Kalimantan, faces numerous challenges that require attention from all involved parties.
“On our part, we are currently drafting a feasibility study for the interconnection from Tawau to north Kalimantan, and we have appointed consultants for this task,” he stated.
However, he added that the grant previously received to conduct the study had been withdrawn due to a change in policies by the United States during Donald Trump’s administration.
“We need to engage in discussions with our partner countries regarding the next steps for advancing this study,” he said.
