SEB apologises for power outage

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KUCHING: Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) has apologised for the inconvenience caused by the disruption of power supply and outage incidents experienced by customers in Kuching due to a transmission fault today.

In a press statement, SEB grid system operator Yong Ying Poh stated that one of the two 275kV transmission lines that connect Engkilili to Mambong was taken out of service today at 11.47am for urgent replacement of a failed capacitor voltage transformer.

“At 2.12pm today, the remaining circuit tripped unexpectedly, as a result of a line fault.

“Since the second line tripped, the only source of supply into Kuching was from Sejingkat and Tun Abdul Rahman power stations. These stations do not have sufficient capacity to meet demand in Kuching without support from elsewhere in the state,” said Yong.

“To keep the system stable, it has therefore been necessary to turn off supply to some areas around Kuching for up to 45 minutes at a time.”

As of 5pm, full load was expected to be restored at all affected areas.

SEB acknowledged the community’s understandable frustration as a result of today’s incident and has begun an investigation into the underlying cause.

The information will be used to continue improving the standard of reliability in supply.