ECoS aims for full rural electrification in Sabah

LocalPolitics
20 Aug 2025 • 10:08 AM MYT
Daily Express
Daily Express

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By: Sabah Publishing House Sdn Bhd

Kota Kinabalu: The Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS) is committed to ensuring that every rural village in the state has access to electricity by 2030, in line with the Sabah Energy Roadmap Master Plan and data from the 2022 census.

ECoS Chief Executive Officer Datuk Ir Abdul Nasser Abdul Wahid said the State Government has agreed to establish a special committee to coordinate the rural electrification initiative.

“This will take time, but we are confident that the 100 per cent target can be achieved,” he said during a courtesy call on Head of State Tun Musa Aman at Istana Seri Kinabalu on Monday.

window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});The visit was held to brief Tun Musa on the current status of electricity and onshore gas supply in Sabah, as well as to share updates on ongoing plans and achievements through various energy initiatives.

Abdul Nasser noted that Sabah’s electricity supply performance has shown positive progress, especially in reducing the Consumer Average Interruption Duration Index (Citi), which measures the duration of power supply disruptions.

“In 2023, the average outage duration was around 500 minutes. This decreased to 400 minutes in 2024, and we expect it to drop below 300 minutes this year. By 2030, our goal is to reach just 100 minutes through the addition of new power generators and continuous upgrades to the transmission and distribution systems,” he said.

He also emphasised the importance of human capital development in the energy sector. In collaboration with the Papar Institute of Technical and Vocational Training (ILTP), ECoS is working to improve training modules in electricity and gas to produce more skilled local manpower for the industry.