Published on: Friday, July 31, 2009 |
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) on Thursday said most of its power plants are not operating at full capacity owing to age factors and over-stretched capacity.
Its Managing Director, Baharin Din said this in a statement in reply to remarks made by Kota Kinabalu MP Dr Hiew King Cheu.
According to him, one of its power plants in Batu Sapi has stopped operation since last year because its efficiency had dropped below 50 per cent and the extent of damage it sustained did not justify any repair effort.
He said Hiew's remarks to the media on the conditions of SESB's power plants confirmed the information SESB had disseminated to the public previously.
"Hence our proposal to solve the problem through the installation of a new power plant in the East Coast as an enabler towards long term resolution," he said.
SESB, he said, appreciated the effort made by Hiew to conduct his own fact-finding visit to SESB's power stations in Sandakan as reported recently.
He said it has been the utility company's plan to stop the operation of all its diesel fuelled power plants in the East Coast because most of it have reached their maximum lifespan and that SESB has to bear very high maintenance costs.
The plants, however, can only cease to operate once the proposed coal plant (expected to produce 300MW) is completed between 2010 and 2011, he said.
But due to the delay in the implementation of the coal-plant project, he said SESB has to spend almost RM60 million on repair and upgrading projects on all its ageing existing plants as stop gap measures to meet the ever increasing demand of its customers.
On top of the RM60m spent to meet the exigencies of electricity demands, he said the SESB had also undertaken the following actions:
- Purchase of 20 units of 1MW (1MWx20 =20MW) gen-sets distributed to critical areas at the West Coast and another 20 units of 1MW equivalent to 20MW that would be purchased soon and to be distributed to the East Coast. The total cost for the 40 gen-sets is RM48m
- Rehabilitation of a diesel power plant in Sandakan (20MW) that cost RM25m
- Installation of two mobile gen-sets in Beluran with capacity of 1MW each and one 1MW mobile gen-set in Kota Kinabatangan which cost RM3m
- The completion of the first unit of IPP Powertron II (65MW) by January 2010
Baharin said the implementation of the projects is expected to ease the demand-supply imbalances.
"However, SESB would like to stress here that these projects are to upgrade capacity but do not guarantee 100 per cent supply reliability.
"Reliability is dependent not merely on conditions of the machines but transmission efficiency," he said.
He said the longer the distance, the higher the probability of transmission lines being exposed to disturbances along the way.
But should there be a major power plant located in the East Coast, he said it would definitely reduce the probability of such occurrences.
The problem, in the long term, he said could be addressed if all of the following projects are completed:
- The full completion of IPP Powertron second and final phase with power generation capacity of 125MW that will produce a total capacity 190 MW (65+125=190MW)
- Completion of SPR energy plant which carries another significant capacity such as 100MW between 2012 and 2013
- Completion of Kimanis Power with power capacity of 300MW by 2013
- Installation of Coal Plant (300MW) by year 2014 or 2015
Baharin said the total cost for all of the stated projects is expected to be around RM7.5 billion.
Between the year 2007 and this year, he said the SESB had spent almost RM60 million to repair and to upgrade capacity of power plants in Sandakan and Tawau.
He said the SESB's inability to proceed with major project in the East Coast has caused millions to be spent on rehabilitation of old plants.
"Most of these plants require replacement of parts and repair that requires expert intervention which are not easily available in Malaysia or outside.
"And the rehabilitation process may take months or years to complete," he said.
Therefore, he said that it is much more practical and cost effective to set up new plants in the East Coast which will not only operate with much higher capacity but also ascertain high degree of transmission reliability.
The SESB, he said, appreciates the support and political will of both the State and Federal governments and all parties concerns towards assisting SESB to resolve problems in the most economical and sustainable manner.
In retrospect, he said that the SESB also fully respects the concerns towards environmental preservation, conservation and protection.
"The future generations include your children and ours too but in dealing with these issues it is our hope that both concerns, environmental and adequate power supply will be seen as complementing interests, not conflicting interests," he said.
He said power supply as a basic utility is needed as critical infrastructure towards realising the people's ideals and aspirations as well as community progress, quality of life and business sustainability.
