The Sabah state government plans to take over Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) completely within seven years, according to Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
Bernama quoted Hajiji who said that the state government only owns 17% of SESB while Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) owns the other 83%.
Currently, Sabah’s electricity supply problem is not only related to the lack of generation capacity but also the increase in user load, he said.
To tackle this problem, Hajiji says that Sabah wants to reach a strong generation spare capacity of 30%—a commitment that is in line with the Sabah Energy Direction Master Plan 2040 which was launched last September.
To reach that level, he said, involves the rental of diesel fuel-based power sets up to 100 Megawatts in stages, namely 40 Megawatts last December and 60 Megawatts in March 2024; extending the diesel fuel-based power plant in Tawau by 70 Megawatts; and completing a 62 Megawatt Large Scale Solar (LSS) project by this year.
The state government also plans to fast-track the completion of the 100 Megawatt Battery Storage System from 2026 to 2024 and rent a 100MW gas-based plant before building a permanent one.
The operation of green energy sources through the Feed in Tariff programme from mini hydro electric sources with a capacity of 31.6 Megawatts and biogas with a capacity of 5.6 Megawatts in 2024 as well as an additional LSS project of 100 Megawatts in 2025.
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor
To ensure the sustainability of sufficient generation capacity, Hajiji said that the medium and long-term Generation Development Plan will also be implemented, involving the addition of generation capacity from hydro resources amounting to around 400 Megawatts.
There is also the 275 kiloVolt main transmission line project connecting the Sabah grid with Sarawak and the Southern Link transmission line project, he mentioned.
This will further strengthen the capacity and stability of Sabah’s grid to receive large load requests especially from industrial users in the future.
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor
Sabah State takes over electricity regulations
Meanwhile, the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (DUN) today has approved three Bills related to electricity supply regulations from the Federal government.
Based on reports from Berita Harian, the Bills were Electricity Supply 2024, Renewable Energy 2024 and Energy Commission of Sabah (Amendment) 2024.
The three Bills were approved at 2:45 pm today and they allow the state to officially regulate the electricity supply and renewable energy sector, taking over from the Federal government.
The decision was made after the three Bills received the support of more than two-thirds of the State Assembly Members and was debated by 21 Assembly members.
Hajiji said during the State Assembly special meeting that the Energy Commission Enactment 2023 was previously presented and approved on 10 January 2023.
The approval gives functions and powers to the Sabah Energy Commission (ECoS), which is the new regulatory body in the state. This is in line with the joint agreement between the federal government and the state government through the Steering Committee Meeting for the Acquisition of Electricity Supply Regulatory Powers from the Federal Government to the Sabah State Government last year.
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor
