Sharbini delivers his speech. — Photo by Roystein Emmor
KUCHING (Feb 22): Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) plans to add five per cent solar energy into its generation mix by 2030, said chief executive officer Datu Sharbini Suhaili.
“Renewable hydropower will continue to be an important capital for a sustainable energy future and we aim to increase the share of renewable and alternative energy in our generation mix.
“By 2030, we plan to add five per cent solar energy into our generation mix,” he said before Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg launched the ‘Sarawak Energy Centenary Townhall: 100 Years of Powering Sarawak’ at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching here yesterday.
According to Sharbini, the 1,285MW Baleh Hydroelectric Project is progressing and is expected to come on stream by 2027.
He said the SEB was also embarking on its first floating solar farm at the 108MW Batang Ai Hydroelectric Plant, leveraging on the reservoir’s existing body of water.
“Once commissioned, the 50MW solar farm will offset around 52 kilotonnes of carbon emissions annually – further decarbonising Sarawak’s power system,” he added.
He said in the last decade (2010-2020), the company had, among other things, achieved the commissioning of the 944MW Murum Hydroelectric Plant as well as the delivery of Sarawak’s first interconnection to West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
“Within a decade, we have increased our installed generation capacity by 3.8 times to 5,233MW, with large hydropower contributing 3,452MW to the total capacity, and decarbonised our power system by 70 per cent because of investments in renewable hydropower.
“We have almost doubled our workforce strength from 2,500 to 5,400 staff with an emphasis on cultivating diversity and inclusivity as well as increased our annual revenue by 3.6 times and reached the RM5 billion mark,” he said.
He added that the company had also increased rural electrification rate from 56 per cent in 2009 to 96.5 per cent last year.
He pointed out: “We have almost met our target of achieving full electrification of Sarawak by 2025.
“From a customer base of just 84 in southern Sarawak in the 1920s, we now provide electricity to over 740,000 accounts, serving a population of almost three million people in Sarawak, with customers in Indonesia.
“We started with around 30 staff and today, we are amongst the largest employers of professional Sarawak talent with 5,400 purposeful and dedicated employees.”
Sharbini said SEB would continue leveraging on digitalisation and technology to improve its operational efficiency with Industrial Revolution 4.0.
He said the company rolled out its digitalisation blueprint in 2018 to guide its journey to become a digital utility by 2025.
“Since then, we have steadily implemented enterprise modernisation and digitalisation of business operations. This early investment was especially crucial during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our future plans are to realise our Digital Powerplant and Smart Grid initiatives. All these will also greatly contribute to our government’s digital economy agenda,” he added.
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