KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) must generate the state’s base load demand before Sabah moves towards renewable energy, says Datuk Seri Madius Tangau.
The SESB chairman said the company must first own the capacity to generate at least 70% of Sabah’s base load power requirements.
The base load is the minimum level of the power demand system that must be dependable enough to meet 24-hour demand consistently.
He said the base load power demand in Sabah is 1,080MW, and the maximum power demand is about 1,200MW, which means that the state reserve margin is less than 12%.
“Obviously, this situation cannot ensure stable power supply as the surplus electricity supply is insufficient to cover technical problems, thus the frequent power disruptions in Sabah.
“We must first solve the power disruption problem. To do this, SESB must own at least 70% of the base load power generation (about 700MW) and must generate its own electricity because we need to have control,” he added.
He said SESB is currently only generating and owning 20% of this while the rest is purchased from independent power producers (IPPs).
The Tuaran MP said since 80% of the power supply in Sabah is generated by IPPs, SESB’s hands were tied in matters relating to power generation in the state.
“For example, when a certain IPP suddenly wants to do scheduled maintenance, and when an IPP does not supply the amount of electricity as agreed, there is not much we can do.
“In that instance, load shedding is unavoidable,” said Tangau.
SESB hopes the government would place confidence and trust in the utility company so that it would be able to generate its own electricity without depending on IPPs, he added.
He said SESB owned the transmission and distribution, but not the generation assets.
“It has been a long-standing problem for decades – we (SESB) are not given the opportunity to operate (the power plants) even when SESB was the one that conducted studies for projects such as the Ulu Padas Dam, Liwagu Dam and a coal power plant in Lahad Datu,” he said.
Tangau pointed out that SESB had spent RM33mil to conduct a feasibility study on the Ulu Padas Hydroelectric Dam but was not given the trust to implement the project.
The proposed Lahad Datu coal power plant, which could have generated 300MW of electricity, also ended up cancelled due to parties disputing who would own the plants, he said.
This, he added, was a far cry from the situation with Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB), which owns all the power generation plants there.Tangau said he recently held dialogues with state and federal level representatives in Sabah in the hope of getting them to be united in empowering SESB to make decisions for power generation projects in the future.
“Their responses have been very positive so far. All of them support SESB. Moving forward, when SESB proposes a project, we hope to get support from all the parties as well as the government,” he said.
Tangau also said that SESB is operating at a loss because power purchased from IPPs is at RM0.43 per unit electricity, but sold to consumers at RM0.34 per unit in accordance with the tariff set by the Federal Government.
“The electricity tariff in the peninsula is RM0.39 per unit electricity. SESB is currently facing a real problem – financial sustainability,” he added.
He added that he hoped PETRONAS and the Sabah government would prioritise electricity generation when it comes to natural gas distribution.
“If all the gas resources are given to the industrial sector, and none to power generation, then how are the industries going to operate without an electricity supply? So prioritise electricity generation first,” he said.
