Kota Kinabalu: Sabah is at a critical point with regard to power supply, a matter that can no longer be debated but to act by implementing strategies before it is too late, said Datuk Harun Ismail.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Sabah Oil & Gas Development Corporation (SOGDC) believes Sabah is at a critical crossroad and the issue needs to be addressed now.
“Energy production is the backbone of our economy, powering our homes, businesses and industries. Electricity is one of the core factors to drive the economy in Sabah. However, production of electricity is a complex matter all over the world.
“This caused us to face an energy trilemma. That is the need to find a balance between energy security, equitable access to energy and sustainability,” he said at the 10th Sabah Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition (SOGCE) 2023 at Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC), Friday.
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“What if something unfortunate were to happen to the gas pipeline and the gas could not be delivered to the energy source user? Then most likely a large part of us will experience power outage.
“What if the price of natural gas price increases?
“Someone will have to bear the extra cost through a subsidy which is, either the Federal or State Government.” On reliability, Harun said it also concerns the System Average Interruptions Duration Index (Saidi) which calculates the average outage duration for each customer served for a given time.
“The Southern Link project is a plan to complete the loop of Sabah’s electrical grid which in turn will improve the Saidi in Sabah.
“In addition, the Southern link will create a single nodal point for the Sabah electricity grid which will also improve Saidi as it will improve maintenance and monitoring issues,” he added.
Harun was referring to the Southern Link project costing RM1.25 billion (2018), which is the electricity line in the south of Sabah to connect the West Coast to the East Coast by connecting the Kalumpang-Mengalong grid.
The existing line connecting the West Coast to the East Coast is in the north of Sabah, so, with the Southern Link, the grid in Sabah will become one loop to further improve the electricity distribution from West Coast to East Coast.
On equitable access, Harun said electricity must both be accessible and affordable.
“In July 2022, the Daily Express reported that the electrification rate of Sabah is approximately 96pc. One of the challenges that Sabah faces is infrastructure constraint because of its rugged terrain and remote location of users.
“Sabah also faces high transmission loss challenges as Sabah’s power transmission network is ageing, and transmission losses are high due to the long distances between power generation sites and consumers.
“This challenge can be met through mini-grids that are not part of the main grid and utilisation of renewable energy solutions.
“When it comes to affordability, as mentioned Sabah’s energy mix is dominated by natural gas, which is not a cheap fossil fuel; there are other cheaper fossil fuels that may be utilised to address this matter.
“Affordability is also affected by the rugged terrain which makes it difficult to build and maintain transmission lines and power plants.
“One way to respond to this is exploring a smart grid system that incorporates digitalisation and enables better response to dynamic power demand,” he said.
