Ten companies to carry out solar project in Sabah

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Takiyuddin (sixth right) with the representatives of eight companies, TNB chairman cum SESB chairman Dato’ Sri Hasan Ariffin (fifth left) and SESB CEO Ir Mohd Yaakob Jaafar (fifth right).

KOTA KINABALU (April 1): Ten companies have been selected to carry out a large scale solar project in Sabah.

Energy and Natural Resource Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said the project which would input two percent of energy into the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) transmission grid and supply electricity to areas that are in need is located at the west coast, Sandakan, Kunak and Tawau.

“The total development cost for the overall project is RM268 million involving 67 megawatts which will be implemented by the 10 companies,” he said.

“We hope that with the project in Sabah, power supply insufficiency at some places will be addressed,” he said.

Takiyuddin also said that the project is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emission to the environment by about 50,000 tonnes.

Meanwhile, in his speech at the launch of the solar project at the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru on Friday, Takiyuddin said that Malaysia is a vast developing country in terms of economy, social and land use.

He said that the growth had significant impact towards electricity supply demand for various purposes including for logistics, industry and residential.

“The increase in the needs and demand for electrical energy is in line with the growing population and demand, especially by the industrial sector, commercial and residential,” he said.

He added that the matter had resulted in discussions and interviews by various parties at all levels to ensure the continuity of green power source for the wellbeing of the people and the country, in line with the government’s agenda under the Energy and Natural Resource Ministry.

“The main focus is to ensure the planning and generation of green electricity supply with an emphasis on the energy trilemma – reliable, affordable and sustainable.

“Therefore, the energy transition plan until 2040 has set a target of 31 per cent Renewable Energy (RE) in installed capacity by 2025 and 40 per cent by 2035. The installed capacity for RE in Malaysia so far is 8,700 megawatts (MW), while by 2035 its capacity is projected to increase, doubling up to 18,000 MW,” he said.

Takiyuddin also said that the government is working to increase the capacity of RE in the country’s generation mix.

“In this context, this large scale solar program is one of the flagship programs introduced by my ministry in an effort to increase renewable energy generation. I have been informed that the large scale solar project program in Sabah has been implemented by my ministry through the Energy Commission since 2017, which is about five years ago.

“Insya Allah, finally the implementation of the main element of this program, namely the Energy Purchase Agreement has been successfully finalized and the project developers can now start the implementation of the solar power plant project,” he said.

Takiyuddin said that he also believed that the event on Friday was quite meaningful and had been eagerly awaited by the developers of solar projects who have been successful in the bidding in Sabah.

A total of 10 companies were selected in the project bidding, he said.

Takiyuddin also said that the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry and its related agencies will take appropriate measures to ensure continued energy security for the country.

“As part of Malaysia’s strategy to diversify energy sources in electricity generation, greater importance has been made to increase the capacity of renewable sources to meet high demand.

He also reminded Malaysians that conventional energy sources such as petroleum, coal and even natural gas are non-renewable resources and will run out at some point.

“In order to ensure the needs and survival of life in the future, we need to explore proactive and feasible actions to find alternative sources to replace these conventional energy sources,” he said.