Water resources offer the prospect of cheap energy

Plans to exploit potential and export power
Energy

Blessed with resources that give it vast potential as a power producer, Sarawak is planning to export energy to Peninsula Malaysia, its neighbouring state of Sabah, and to Indonesia and Brunei.

Construction of the 2,400-megawatt Bakun Dam, the largest hydroelectric plant in Malaysia, is due to be completed by 2010. The project is also planned to include two underwater cables that would each transmit 1,600 megawatts (MW) of power across the China Sea. The first 800 MW cable could be ready by 2013 and the second by 2015.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud says that Sarawak intends fully to exploit both its rivers and estimated one billion tons of coal reserves for power generation. He says the state has the potential to produce 20,000 MW of electricity and is in a position to make a major contribution to national development. “We aim to be an exporter of energy to Peninsular Malaysia to help it to sustain its competitive position.”

Sarawak’s next phase of development will focus on the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE), one of the five prospective regional development schemes planned for Malaysia. Stretching from Bintulu to Mukah Division in the central region, the 200-mile corridor will cater for energy-based industries supplied by the power generated from Bakun Dam and the proposed 900MW Murun Dam.

Mr Taib says: “We have chosen energy development as the best basis because it puts the corridor on a different basis from the past.”

Major industrial projects are planned, including proposed aluminium smelters, as well as palm oil, oil-based, timber-based and steel and glass industries, and it is hoped that it will interest investors worldwide. With crude oil prices spiralling, cheap energy from hydro could give Sarawak a huge advantage.

“We are going to stand on our own feet and attract people to manufacture more sophisticated products from aluminium, magnesium, paper and other high technology products,” predicts Mr Taib. He foresees a significant reorientation of the state economy and ultimately less reliance on unsustainable power sources. “When this happens, the state will no longer need to rely on its agricultural sector, and later its mineral, gas or petroleum.”

Last July, state-owned Sarawak Energy announced plans to build six new power plants, including hydroelectric and coal-fired generators. The state is already building a second coal-fired power station in Mukah Division.