SARAWAK could conclude its agreement on the sale of electricity to Sabah by year-end.

Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) told The Malaysian Insight that it aims to finalise the key terms for the power exchange agreement by the end of this year and begin the export of electricity in 2022.

In March, SEB chief executive officer Sharbini Suhaili had said the power exchange agreement on the sale could be signed “in the next few months”.

No reasons were given for the delay.

Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal, in his courtesy call on Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg in Kuching last week, had again raised the long standing issue of buying “cheap” electricity in their talk.

Shafie later told reporters that the cost of producing power in Sarawak at 16 sen per kilowatt hour (Kwh) – far lower than Sabah’s 40 sen Kwh – was an overriding factor in its decision to buy electricity to support Sabah’s heavy industry.

“It would be a lot cheaper to buy,” he said.

He also said Sarawak has excess to sell and there is reliability in supply.

About 74% of Sarawak’s electricity is generated by hydro compared to Sabah’s, which is mostly generated from diesel fuel.

The renewed interest in buying power comes on the heels of Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd disclosing plans to invest up to RM600 million to set up an automotive industry, including an assembly plant, in Sabah.

The electricity could come from the small 275 megawatt (Mw) hydroelectric dam on the Trusan river in Sarawak’s most northern district of Lawas.

It is considered very small compared to the state’s three mega dams – Bakun with a 2,400Mw installed capacity, Murum (944Mw) and Baleh (1,285Mw).

Brunei reportedly also has plans to buy up to 100Mw of electricity, with an option to buy another 50Mw for its district of Temburong that is sandwiched between Limbang and Lawas.

SEB said it achieved a significant milestone towards realising the Borneo Grid with first export to West Kalimantan in 2016.

SEB is already supplying 230Mw of electricity to the Indonesian province via a 275Kv transmission line connecting Mambong in Sarawak to Bengkayang in West Kalimantan under an agreement signed in 2012 with Perusahan Listrik Negara Persero – an Indonesian government-owned corporation which has a monopoly on electricity distribution in Indonesia. – October 17, 2018.