POWER EXPANSION
Utility firm to boost electricity supply to northern region of Sarawak and increase customer base in Indonesia, Sabah, Brunei
SARAWAK Energy Bhd will spend RM4 billion next year to provide more electricity to northern Sarawak. The utility company is also planning to increase its customer base in Indonesia, Sabah and Brunei.
SARAWAK Energy Bhd (SEB) remains on growth mode next year as it is set to spend an additional RM4 billion to boost electricity supply to the northern region of Sarawak.
The utility company is also a step closer to increasing its customer base in Sabah, Brunei and Indonesia, as part of its northern region agenda.
Chief executive officer Sharbini Suhaili said SEB has been in a capital-intensive period for the last two to three years as it targets to achieve 100 per cent electricity supply in Sarawak.
“SEB is still growing... in fact we have a number of projects in the pipeline. Each year we spend a few billion ringgit on our projects.
“Our customer base is growing but we are looking at increasing it and I think we are on the right footing,” he said, here, yesterday on the sidelines of the 13th World Islamic Economic Forum.
“To help us achieve the target of supplying electricity to the entire state of Sarawak, we will also use solar, mini hydro power and mostly hybrid. That is part of our renewable energy development plan,” he said.
The projects in the pipeline include the Balingan coal power plant, coming on stream in the middle of next year, and combine-cycle gas turbine in Tanjung Kidurong, Bintulu, which will come on stream in 2021.
Sharbini said the company had been in talks with Sabah and Brunei for potential power exchange agreements.
“We are going to bring more transmission lines to Miri, Limbang and Lawas. Those lines will be connected to Brunei and Sabah,” he said.
He hopes the sale and purchase agreements will materialise by next year.
The company has taken the first step towards building a Trans-Borneo power grid with its first interconnection to west Kalimantan, Indonesia, last year.
SEB is the state-owned sole electricity distributor that was delisted in December 2009, at RM2.65 a share, valued at RM4.1 billion. Prior to privatisation, the state held a 61.33 per cent stake in the company.
In the financial year ended December 31 last year, SEB reportedly posted RM4.15 billion in revenue, up 37.4 per cent year-onyear. However, net profit fell 19.5 per cent year-on-year to RM545.85 million, according to a filing with the Companies Commission of Malaysia.