By Olivia Miwil - July 20, 2023 @ 9:02am
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah should tap into more power plants project to improve supply in the state, said Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) central vice president Sim Fui.
After 60 years of independence, he said Sabah only has 1,080 megawatts (MW) of power supply for the entire state, while West Malaysia has 25,962 MW and Sarawak has 5,996 MW.
The party's public complaint bureau chief also added that the shortage of power in Sabah was exacerbated by the shutdown of the Tenom Pangi dam and the reduced capacity of some other independent power plants due to technical problems.
"In June 2023, Sabah's electricity demand reached 1,080 MW, resulting in power shortages and required power rationing across the state. This is totally unacceptable, as electricity supply is the most basic necessity for daily living," he said in a statement.
Sim is also concerned that the power supply demand is expected to increase significantly with more investments coming into the state.
However, he said the party was optimistic that the situation would be better as Sabah managed to take back the power generation approval authority from the federal to Sabah under the Energy Commission Sabah (ECoS).
Sim added that with the setting up of ECoS, it could do a much better job than the Federal Energy Commission.
ECoS will start operations on January 1 next year. Through the commission, it could ensure better execution of new power generation plants in the state.
It will also be tasked with providing secure, sustainable, affordable, and accessible energy for Sabah.
"We must ensure that future power generation in Sabah prioritises green energy such as solar, mini hydro, biogas to comply with global net-zero carbon and environmental sustainability requirements.
"There are more than 130 palm oil mills in Sabah that could easily invest in Biogas green energy to supply the Sabah Energy Sdn Bhd (SESB) grid, with the potential of more than 260 MW at 2 MW per palm oil mill," he said.
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