Rural northern Sarawak to enjoy 24-hour electricity

KUCHING: By 2025, the whole of Sarawak, including those living in the rural areas of the northern parts, is expected to enjoy access to reliable and affordable electricity supply.

The State Government, through the Ministry of Utilities Sarawak and its implementing agency Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB), is accelerating the completion of rural electrification projects to ensure that objective is met according to plan.

Since 2009, about 18,000 rural households have been connected to reliable electricity supply in the mountainous Limbang Division through the simultaneous implementation of the Rural Electrification Scheme (RES) and the Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (SARES).

This includes about 250 households in the hinterland which have been given access to 24-hour electricity under SARES.

SARES is a sustainable stop-gap initiative to power up the most remote households with no road access, whilst conventional electrification via the grid makes its way to them.

By the end of 2021, almost 200 more households in the division are expected to be connected to the grid, including about 120 households recovered from projects left abandoned by a previous contractor since 5 years ago.

By 2023, a further 866 households will have access to reliable 24-hour electricity to achieve full electrification for the entire division.

These form part of the 150,000 rural households throughout Sarawak that have been lighted up under the various rural electrification strategies since 2009.

Electricity supply connection was through extension of the grid system for rural areas with road accessibility under RES, establishing localised micro-grids under hybrid system for larger communities distant from the main grid; and smaller standalone solar power systems for the most remote areas through SARES.

“About 45% of Sarawakians live in longhouses, kampongs or smaller town in our rural areas. Following the development of the Projek Rakyat initiative to accelerate the Rural Electrification Master Plan 2018, we have been able to really step up on our electrification efforts,” said Sarawak Minister for Utilities, Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Anak Utom.

“We are thankful to Sarawak Government and YAB Chief Minister that our plan has been supported with an allocation of RM2.37 billion to cover rural transmission and distribution projects as well the implementation of SARES in distant villages.”

Rundi added that the rural electrification coverage in Sarawak has risen to 95% in 2020 and is expected to reach 97% in the coming months.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Energy Group Chief Executive Officer, Datu Haji Sharbini Suhaili, said there was a consistent and continuous effort to ensure that SEB could provide full electricity coverage for the Northern Region in the next few years.

“In July 2020, we commissioned our new Kota 2 mini hydro power plant in Lawas, a run-of-river scheme with a total installed capacity of 10.5MW,” he added.

This had boosted the generation capacity and reduced the dependence on diesel power generation in northern Sarawak pending the completion of SEB’s Extra High Voltage or EHV transmission projects to connect Limbang and Lawas to the main electrical grid.

A new distribution system technology known as the Medium Voltage Covered Conductor (MVCC) has been adopted to connect Lawas town under the Limbang division to rural Bakelalan taking into account the area’s harsh geographical conditions.

MVCC is able to withstand momentary contact with crops or vegetation without causing interruptions and this will help in strengthening supply reliability.

The first phase of the project has commenced and the implementation shall be synchronised with the commissioning of the new Lawas Town Extra High Voltage substation in 2022.

The communities in Bakelalan, located about eight hours from Lawas town by uneven gravel roads and old logging tracks, engage mostly in farming and agricultural activities supplemented by homestay businesses run by locals.

However due to the distance from the towns, communities are rarely able to market their produce.

The lack of electricity also means that the processing of the ‘Adan’ rice and highland salt is either done manually or powered by diesel generators which can only run for limited times.

With steady electricity supply by 2023, residents can have access to refrigeration as well as modern machinery that can boost productivity.

Apart from the hard works of the rural electrification team, including contractors and subcontractors, all partner agencies such as the Resident & District Offices and JKR, another big success factor is the leadership provided by the community leaders and the support of the rural communities who look forward to the basic utilities enjoyed by those who stay in towns.

“I look forward to the day when we can confidently say there is no Sarawakian that is left in the dark,” Rundi said.