Sarawak power import planned for 2012

BRUNEI has decided to source electricity from Sarawak by 2012, a move that will allow the Sultanate to use its own gas production for purposes other than electricity generation, a senior government official from the Energy Division said yesterday.

The official, who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity, told The Brunei Times that "if everything goes smooth and well, construction time (for the transmission lines from Sarawak to Brunei) is 18 months.

"The reason why we opted to buy electricity from Malaysia is so that Brunei can diversify the use of our gas. We have to look at the cost for gas especially in the international market," the official said by telephone as he was part of the Minister of Energy's entourage in Kuching, Sarawak.

The cost of gas in the international market is "much much higher" than domestic prices, which is one of the main things Brunei is looking at, he explained.

Brunei has three options of sourcing energy from Sarawak: through Sg Tujoh, Belait or straight to Sungai Liang Industrial Park (Spark).

"It all depends on Brunei's infrastructure development," he said.

A report by Malaysia's The Star stated that Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) is expected to build a 40km power transmission line to link Miri in northern Sarawak and Brunei in two years to facilitate the export of electricity to Brunei.

Sarawak Public Utilities Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said the project would take 18 months to complete.

The minister hopes that this project will pave the way for more collaboration between the two countries, The Star reported.

"Brunei has the potential to import 100 MW from Sarawak in 2012, an additional 50 MW in 2013 and a further 50 MW in future years," the paper quoted him as saying.

The Sarawak Minister handed a copy of the "Final report for the feasibility study on the Sarawak-Brunei power interconnection system" to Brunei's Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister's Office Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Dewa Major General (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Hj Mohammad Hj Daud during a ceremony in Kuching.

The feasibility study was commissioned after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Brunei's Department of Electrical Services (DES) and SEB in May last year.

Under the MoU signed between DES, Prime Minister's Office and SEB, "the three parties involved will collaborate on generation, connection and distribution of power, and also management of electricity supplies between the Brunei government and the (Malaysian) state", the newspaper reported.

The interconnection was first mentioned at the signing ceremony of the heads of Asean Power Utilities and Authorities and at the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines -East Asean Growth Association (BIMP-EAGA) business council forum in the late 1980's, The Borneo Post quoted Pehin Dato Hj Mohammad as saying.

"Then the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Interconnection Master Plan researches were conducted in 2003 followed by the Trans-Borneo Power Grid Development and Energy Trading in 2005. These researches were done to realise the Asean 2020 vision of having a power grid interconnection between its countries," Pehin Dato Hj Mohammad said.

In the report, he also stated that the project was not something new as the same strategic collaboration had been done between other Southeast Asian countries and he welcomed the move as a positive step towards strengthening the unity of Asean members.

Brunei currently relies on 100 per cent gas generation for its 66kV main grid system and statistics from the Department of Economic Planning and Development states that Brunei used 7.23 million barrels of gas at US$70 ($101) per barrel, last year, which means the government subsidised US$506 million ($733.7 million).

The Sultanate has the option to buy competitively priced electricity from Sarawak's 275kV grid from specific hydroelectric projects.

The first phase of the power export to Brunei would be via Tudan in Miri which will connect Brunei via the border point at Sungai Tujuh.

Connection will be via a 275 kV transmission line of about 13 km between Tudan and Sungai Tujuh, according to reports.

The report also stated that power demand in Brunei is in Kuala Belait and Spark areas, which means that the transmission interconnection has to extend beyond Sungai Tujuh to Kuala Belait (which is about 18 km), where a 275kV/66kV sub-station has to be built.

Eventually, Brunei intends to develop a 275kV transmission backbone spanning Sungai Tujuh-Kuala Belait-Spark-Bukit Panggal-Katok.

The proposed second phase of power export to Brunei will be via Limbang, probably in conjunction with the development of the proposed 200 MW Limbang hydroelectric project (II), which is expected to be completed by 2015.

The proposed dam site will span 151km from the Limbang river mouth. The power from the dam will be supplied to Brunei via Limau Manis.

There is another plan to go westward through Brunei's Temburong district to connect with Lawas town in Sarawak, and also supplying Bangar in Temburong, stated the reports.

The Brunei Times