KOTA KINABALU: Study is being conducted on the potential of harvesting energy from wind and waves for electricity generation in Sabah.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili said the study on wind potential was being carried out jointly by Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) and SIRIM.
“SEDA, in collaboration with SIRIM, has set up a small station at Simpang Mangayau, Kudat to monitor and study wind potential. SEDA has also commissioned an overall mapping of wind speed and consistency in all areas in Sabah, which was done jointly by SIRIM and a university,” he said to reporters after officiating at the opening of SEDA branch office here yesterday.
According to Ongkili, studies by the Meteorology Department showed that the potential for wind harvesting in Malaysia was generally on the low end.
He explained existing conventional technologies required a minimum of two-meter per second (mps) wind to efficiently generate electricity.
In this regard, there are only three places with potential in Sabah, namely Kudat, around Mount Kinabalu and somewhere near Sipitang.
However, he said technologies were improving and some developers believed even 0.8 mps wind could be harvested for electricity.
“But until then we’ll have to wait for the study to be completed. It is not just the speed but also consistency of the wind. Studies are also being carried out on the potential to harvest electricity from waves in Kudat by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and a group from UK.
“It’s a bit too early to say how much electricity can be generated from wind in Sabah but we are following the study closely,” he said.
Earlier in his speech, Ongkili said Malaysia needed to venture further into renewable energy to supplement its conventional fossil-fuelled electricity generation.
He noted that the country’s electricity generation capacity as of last year was 25,388 MegaWatt (MW) and its power demand was projected to grow by 3.6 per cent annually until 2016.
To meet the increasing demand, he said an additional generating capacity of 7,446MW needed to be installed from now until 2030.
“We are currently depending on fossil fuel to provide 87 per cent of our fuel mix. Apart from having environmental implication, fossil fuel also has fluctuating prices. Last year alone, the government spent RM24.42 billion to subsidize fossil fuel.
“Out of this, RM13.73 billion was for electricity generation. For Sabah alone, the subsidy for diesel needed for power plants was RM598 million. As such, we need to reduce dependency on fossil fuel and move towards renewable energy.
“In this respect, the government has set a target of increasing renewable energy contribution to the country’s fuel mix from 1.5 per cent to five per cent by 2015. We are currently lingering at three to four per cent,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ongkili said the power margin in Sabah was still at a discomfort level, with only five per cent reserve at any one time.
However, the reserve level is expected to go up significantly once independent power plants in Sipitang and Kimanis have come online to provide a minimum of 100MW additional generation capacity each by June.
“Assuming we can export all this additional capacity into the grid, there will be an increase in power margin. In the meantime, we would have to manage with the existing generation capacity, where we may need to implement load shedding whenever several power plants need to be shut down for maintenance. But other than that, especially during the May festive season, I have asked Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) to ensure that there will be as little disruption as possible.
“Otherwise all the Unduk Ngadau in the district may have melting make-ups and disappearing lipsticks due to heavy sweating. Instead of smiling they will be frowning in the heat. But we are aware of this and we are doing the best we can,” he said.