SARAWAK is “well advanced” in commercial negotiations for an interconnection to sell electricity to Singapore, Premier Abang Johari Openg said today.

The interconnection via direct undersea power cables will be the first step venturing beyond the Borneo power grid as part of the regional Asean power grid.

In his address at the Sustainability and Renewable Energy Forum 3.0 (Saref) in Kuching, he said state energy company, Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB), together with Sembcorp Industries and Singapore Power Group, have completed comprehensive technical studies on the proposed interconnection.

“Sarawak can play a central role in progressing regional energy transition by sharing our hydropower-based resources with regional neighbours via interconnections.”

In the road to turn Sarawak into the “battery” of Asean, Sarawak’s first interconnection was with West Kalimantan in 2016 which Abang Johari described as “the first step towards realising the Borneo power grid”.

The success, he added, encouraged Sarawak to pursue similar bilateral interconnection projects.

He said in 2021, SEB signed power exchange and interconnection agreements with Sabah for an initial export of 30Mw to 50Mw over a 15-year period.

The premier also disclosed that Sarawak is working on a power exchange agreement with oil-rich Brunei for electricity export.

The premier said Sarawak is in a prime central location in Southeast Asia, on Borneo’s northeast coast, sharing its borders with Indonesian Kalimantan on the island of Borneo as well as Brunei, and the Malaysian state of Sabah.

He added the interconnections are one of the primary ways for the region to achieve regional Net Zero and energy transition targets. –  September 6, 2023.