Hajiji (left) greeting Nik Nazmi before the start of the meeting at Menara Kinabalu on Monday (June 12).
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is gearing up to take full regulatory control of its electricity supply with a special state assembly sitting planned for next Jan 3.
Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had, in principle, given the green light for Sabah to take over regulatory control of its power supply on Jan 1, 2024.
The Chief Minister said in order to meet the timeline, coordination and cooperation from all were crucial so that all issues, particularly the legal process, could be resolved.
“Among the steps required were approval from the Federal Cabinet to invoke and gazette Article 95C of the Federal Constitution to suspend the Electricity Supply Act 1990 (Act 448), Renewable Energy Act 2011 (Act 725) and Sustainable Energy Development Authority Act 2011 (Act 726) in Sabah,” Hajiji said.
“Subsequently, consent from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is needed and to be followed by the Lay Order in Parliament that can be tabled after the suspension,” he added.
Hajiji said this during the steering committee meeting on the handing over of electricity supply regulatory power to Sabah at Menara Kinabalu here on Monday (June 12).
The Chief Minister co-chaired the meeting with Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
On the Sabah government's part, two Bills on the Electricity Supply Enactment and Renewable Energy Enactment, as well as an amendment to the Sabah Energy Commission Enactment 2023 (to include the regulatory function on electricity supply and renewable energy), will be tabled during the special state assembly sitting on Jan 3.
“We need concurrence from ministries and relevant agencies both at the federal and state levels so that all these processes can be done smoothly, especially in terms of legality and to avoid interruption to the electric supply operations in Sabah," he said.
Later, Hajiji and Nik Nazmi co-chaired the Electricity Supply and Tariff Planning and Implementation Committee Sabah meeting (JPPPET), where the Sabah Generation Development Plan (2023-2027) was endorsed.
Formulated by the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS), the Sabah Generation Development Plan was aimed at providing an immediate solution to Sabah’s current critical shortage of power generation capacity.
Earlier, Hajiji said that in anticipation of the handing over of the regulatory control of electricity supply to Sabah, the Federal Government was urged to facilitate and continue the processes to ensure on-time completion of the projects planned under the Plan.
He said this included fast-track measures to increase power at the state’s east coast, which will quickly restore Sabah's electricity reserve margin to at least 30% by this September.
“This will provide an immediate solution to the acute capacity shortage in Sabah, thus, demonstrating the state and federal governments’ commitment to resolve the issue comprehensively and effectively,” he said.
Besides that, the meeting also decided to add generation capacity on the west coast utilising existing natural gas supply as well as other additional generation projects throughout Sabah.
Hajiji added that the state government realises the importance of boosting the usage of renewable energy to support the national neutral carbon initiative and the high potential of solar energy in Sabah.
“Therefore, the Sabah government will increase the large-scale solar power production to 100MW in 2026 on the East coast," he said.
Given the hydroelectric potential to enhance renewable energy capacity, he added, the state, through ECoS, will conduct a study to formulate a Sabah Hydroelectric Development Masterplan beginning this year.
The Chief Minister also reiterated the state government’s stand on the southern link 275kV transmission line project, stretching from Sipitang to Tawau, which he had raised at the last JPPPET meeting.
He said the southern link project must be implemented and that Putrajaya must allocate funding via a grant as it is a public amenity project that must be completed by 2028.
This is to enable power from two new hydroelectric stations to be channelled to consumers through the state grid.
“The southern link project will also boost the grid system resilience and complete the 275kV loop system enabling higher electricity capacity distribution to major industrial users in Sabah," he said.
