By Olivia Miwil - August 4, 2023 @ 11:49am
KOTA KINABALU: Even a squirrel could cause a blackout in Sabah.
Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) chairman Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau said the uncoated power cables in the state were sensitive and prone to power trips.
"SESB is involved in power generation, transmission and distribution. In terms of distribution, we are still using 'naked' or uncoated cables.
"Whenever a squirrel walks on the line, if leaves or branches touch it… worse if a tree falls, there will be a blackout," he said during a virtual talk on "Solving Sabah's Frequent Blackouts" organised by Sabah Way Forward.
Madius, who is also Tuaran member of parliament, said that when a power trip happens, it is not easy to solve but SESB now has 25 drones to locate and rectify the problem.
He added that at present Sabah has more than 5,000 kilometres of uncoated cables.
"It has to be coated. But we need more than RM1 billion to do it. At present, SESB is only capable of coating 300 kilometres (of cable) per year.
"Without a large-scale programme to replace it, we need another 20 years (to solve the frequent blackouts.)"
Madius said this was despite the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) in Sabah having improved from 700 a decade ago to 298 at present.
SAIDI is used by utility companies to determine how reliable their power supply is. It represents the average time in minutes that customers experience a power outage over a certain period, typically a year.
The SAIDI in Kuala Lumpur is less than 50.
"Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park is the only place with 50. Even in Kota Kinabalu, it is more than 100.
"SAIDI for Ranau and Telupid is more than 500 as both districts are off grid as they use their own generator sets."
As for the power supply capacity, Madius said SESB generated 20 per cent while the remaining was from independent power producers (IPP).
At present, he added the company has a reserve margin of 12 per cent from its electricity supply of 1200 megawatts.
When there is a scheduled maintenance for one of its generators or power stations, Madius said load shedding or electricity rationing would be inevitable.
The current average tariff rate per unit sold to consumers is 34.5 sen while the utility company buys electricity from IPPs at 43 sen.
"Our losses are about 10 sen per unit. But the federal government gave a tariff subsidy last year. We received RM800 million, that is why we are still in operation."
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