KUCHING: Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) is prioritising efforts to improve the reliability of electricity supply for residents in Limbang after customers who receive supply from Limbang Power Station experienced supply instability since May.
It is deploying additional generators to meet and stabilise the power supply for the load in the district after repair works of generators were delayed by current restrictions on movement and the available generators reached their maximum capacity.
This presented the potential risk of not being able to cater for peak demand especially during hot weather.
Load shedding has also caused temporary supply interruptions to certain areas in Limbang during periods when the load demand exceeds the available generator capacity.
Load shedding happens when available electricity supply is prioritised for certain facilities, such as hospitals, to prevent an overload and total outage in the power system during periods of very high electricity demand.
“We are making every effort to stabilise supply as soon as possible and have been working on this on an urgent basis since this issue was first recorded in May,” said Yusri Safri, Sarawak Energy Vice President for Distribution.
“We deeply regret the inconvenience experienced by the residents of Limbang due to the supply interruptions, and we assure them we are making every effort to meet their needs, including raising the generation capacity.”
He added that repair works on the faulty gensets were ongoing.
“We expect one of the gensets to be back online by this Friday (25 June), restoring normalcy of supply to Limbang by month-end, while another genset is expected to be back online in 3 weeks pending delivery of spare parts. Our operations team will also do our best to restore supply to the affected areas as soon as safely possible in the event of an interruption,” he said.
SEB has also deployed two additional 1500kW generator sets from Kuching to support the load demand in Limbang and serve as back-up supply, as well as to supplement the existing one unit of 1 Megavolt amperes (MVA) mobile generator set that was recently deployed from Miri.
Yusri also emphasised that there will be sufficient generation capacity for Limbang once repairs to the generators have been carried out.
“The current restrictions under the Movement Control Order compounded by a long route bypassing international border crossings to get to Limbang have delayed repair works but we remain committed to meet the electricity supply requirements of the district,” he added.
Meanwhile, work to connect the district as part of the Northern Grid extension project progress under a long-term solution to meet the area’s growing demand is progressing despite the challenges of the COVID-19 situation.
Under the Northern Grid extension project, Limbang will be connected to Sarawak’s main power plants through the Grid and will no longer depend on diesel generation with the commissioning of the Limbang Town Extra High Voltage 275/33/11kV substation, targeted for completion in 2023.
The grid extensions are planned to meet growing demand as areas in the Limbang division continue to expand with new townships, businesses and residential areas.
For more information and updates on supply interruption in Limbang, customers can call Sarawak Energy’s 24-hour Customer Care Centre at 1300-88-3111 or email to customercare@sarawakenergy.com.
