Published on: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 |
Kota Kinabalu: The Government will only decide whether to allow the coal-fired power plant at Silam in Lahad Datu to proceed after evaluating a full report on it, including the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said.
The project would not go ahead if it was detrimental to the environment, he said, adding that Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) would also submit its report on the project.
Speaking after opening the Second South-East-Asia Environment and Natural Resources Management (Sanrem) conference at Le Meridien, Tuesday, he said the proposal to build the plant was in view of the need for more electricity to meet increasing demand by factories and houses in the rapidly growing area.
He said 60 per cent equity in the plant would be owned by the Federal Government and the remainder by agencies of the State Government.
Towns such as Kunak would also benefit from the project estimated to cost RM1.3 billion, which would have a capacity of 300MW, he said. "Supply from Bakun is not coming, so the Federal Government has decided the set up the independent power producer (IPP) in Silam,"
Musa said another reason for the proposal was that a coal-fired power plant would be cheaper to run than a diesel one.
On protests by some locals over the project's close proximity to conservation areas like Danum Valley and the Lahad Datu water catchment area, Musa said the Government would send its representatives to brief them about it.
"I think it's okay, everybody will benefit from it. Maybe it is not suitable to set up in a different location.
"There is still a problem with the East-West power grid system, which (supply) could not even reach Sandakan, and what more with Lahad Datu and Kunak. The people in the East Coast are crying to the GovernmentÉthey will be blaming us for not providing them this basic necessity," Musa said.
On the 418 families totalling 3,000 people living in Kampung Teluk Soiaun and SK Ladang Kennedy Bay with has about 300 students who have been ordered to move to make way for the coal-fired power plant, Musa said the State Government will look into it.
The proposed plant, part of which sits on the abandoned Pacific Hardwood timber complex in Silam, will be operational by 2010 and targeted for the long run.
SESB Managing Director, Abu Safian Talib, had said that SESB will eventually purchase power from the appointed IPP that will operate the 300MW plant.
Tenders for the IPP project were called in June and three to four companies had been short-listed.
Their bids were now undergoing "clarification", he said, adding the coal-fired plant was necessary to diversify power generation sources in Sabah.
Presently 43 per cent of the State's electricity supply comes from diesel-powered plants, 42 per cent from gas-powered plants and 15 per cent from hydro-powered plants.
"Our target in the long run is to increase electricity generated by hydro-stations to 35 per cent of power from coal-fired plants and another 5 per cent from plants operating on renewable energy such as biomass," said Abu Safian, adding SESB could not be dependent on hydro-powered plants as a prolonged drought could affect electricity supply.
Abu Safian said the coal supply for the proposed plant would come in either from the coal centre in Peninsular Malaysia or imported from countries like Australia.
In comparison, he said using diesel fuel in power plant cost about 70 sen per one kilowatts, much expensive than below 20sen per kilowatt if using coal.
