KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Energy Council has approved in principle power generation projects with a combined output capacity of 723 megawatts (MW) to meet the state's short-term electricity demand.
The projects are gas-fired power plants in Kimanis and Tawau with a total capacity of 360MW, as well as renewable energy projects from hydro and wind energy sources producing a total of 363MW.
The council, chaired by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, said the approvals were contingent upon balanced and prudent management of the projects' technical and commercial aspects.
"This is in line with the state's economic growth, the needs of the industrial sector, and consumers' ability to bear reasonable energy generation costs.
"I believe that with the commitment and cooperation of all concerned, the council will continue to serve as the highest platform for coordinating the state's energy policies in an integrated manner for the well-being of the people of Sabah," Hajiji said after chairing the meeting on Tuesday (July 22).
He said several fast-track projects approved during council meetings last year were beginning to bear fruit.
Among them is increasing the power generation reserve margin from 10% in January 2023 – before the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS) assumed regulatory authority – to 17% currently, with a further increase to 30% by year-end.
Hajiji noted that the fast-track projects had also resulted in a reduction in Sabah’s System Average Interruption Duration Index from 363 minutes in the first six months of 2023 to 215 minutes in the first six months of last year.
"It went down further to 162 minutes in the first six months of this year," he added.
Hajiji also called for the empowerment of state government-linked companies to enable them to play a bigger role in Sabah's energy landscape.
