Sarawak Energy plans to attain sustainable growth by becoming a powerhouse of southeast Asia by providing affordable, renewable, and reliable energy through its renewable sector.
Sarawak Energy Berhad is an energy development company and a vertically integrated power utility with a vision to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity for Sarawak by meeting the region’s need for reliable and renewable energy—providing electricity to 3 million Sarawakians in urban and rural areas.
Chief Minister Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg during an event of the Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) Centenary Townhall said that he is confident of Sarawak achieving the targets because of its abundant natural resources and renewable hydropower.
Since 2016, Sarawak has been exporting renewable energy to West Kalimantan and in the future, it will export to Sabah and Borneo Grid.
“Our North Kalimantan project is also progressing well in its preparation for the final investment decision. Once this project is realized, it will greatly contribute to regional supply reliability, economic growth, and prosperity,” he said.
Projects like the Accelerated Rural Electrification Master Plan under Projek Rakyat have helped in the process of lighting up Sarawak. In 2009, the electrification in the rural was only 56%.
“Today about 97% of our rural communities have access to 24-hours of reliable, renewable, and clean electricity via a suite of the grid and off-grid solutions including solar and micro-hydropower systems. I am sure with continuous and concerted efforts; we will achieve our 100 percent domestic electrification rate target by 2025 despite many challenges in trying to light up Sarawak,” he added.
SEB chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Sharbini Suhaili said “Our experience and expertise in renewable hydropower development was key to the success of our first international venture. If the project is able to materialize, it will be our first international project. It will also be a significant milestone for us to become a regional powerhouse in Southeast Asia. With the strong support of the Sarawak government, we believe we can ensure Sarawak becomes the “battery of ASEAN” with interconnections from Borneo to elsewhere in the region,” he said.
Sarawak Energy aims to increase the share of alternative and renewable energy and will step forward for a sustainable energy future.
“We aim to add about five percent solar energy into the generation mix by 2030. We are embarking on our first floating solar farm at the 108MW Batang Ai Hydropower Plant – leveraging on the reservoir’s existing body of water to do so. Once commissioned, the 50MW solar farm will offset around 52 kilotonnes of carbon emissions annually – further decarbonizing Sarawak’s power system,” he said.
He added, “We also aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 600k tonnes per annum through electric vehicles and achieve more than 15 percent income from foreign markets in line with our Southeast Asia renewable energy powerhouse ambitions.”
