SEB aggressively improving its transmission, distribution infrastructure

KUCHING: Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) is taking aggressive steps to further improve its transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Its chairman Datuk Amar Abdul Hamed Sepawi revealed that their largest transmission project is the 500-kilovolt transmission backbone which will strengthen their power system reliability and minimise the risk of supply interruptions in the south of Sarawak by providing additional transmission lines from power plants in the North.

He said a critical portion was successfully energised at the end of last month and would see further progress by end of this month.

On the distribution side, teams at regional offices are working hard to ensure reliable energy to customers and to turn the lights back on quickly whenever there are supply interruptions.

“As for the retail side, SEB is exploring new ways to enhance customer experience by leveraging on information community technology.

“In the efforts to provide all Sarawakians with access to 24/7 electricity, SEB together with the Ministry of Utilities, has brought the state domestic coverage to 94 per cent today,” he added.

He was speaking at the Sarawak Energy ‘Ramah Tamah Aidilfitri’ held at the Pullman Hotel yesterday.

Abdul Hamed elaborated that the rural electricity coverage had improved significantly from 55 per cent in 2009 to 87 per cent last year.

They were also working towards supplying electricity to the remaining 36,000 households in the rural areas through various rural electrification programmes, and that their innovative Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme ( Sares) is keeping homes aglow in the most remote communities.

“We will also continue to earn our license to operate through good environmental and corporate social responsibility programmes, stakeholder engagement and transparent communication.”

In addition to investing in its generation capacity and transmission and distribution systems, Abdul Hamed said SEB would continue to digitalise its system and processes for greater efficiency and to add value to customers in tandem with the state’s vision to achieve a digital economy.

“We continue to build a strong foundation to develop our corporate practices, process and culture to become a benchmark utility with our best in class peers to deliver on five Key Focus Areas namely Operational Excellence, Project Delivery Excellence, Health, Safety and Environment ( HSE) Excellence, Talent Management Excellence and High Performance Culture,” he pointed out.

SEB employs over 4,600 Sarawakians and has around 640,000 customers in households and businesses across the state.