KUALA LUMPUR: The proposal for a large-capacity base load power plant on Sabah’s East Coast has been previously considered by both state and federal governments.
Deputy Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said the project faced challenges due to high operating costs from the lack of affordable fuel sources.
“Nevertheless, based on input from the Sabah Energy Commission, consideration will be given once upstream exploration projects for the supply of natural gas fuel sources by the natural gas supplier company are successfully implemented,“ he told the Dewan Rakyat.
He was responding to Vivian Wong Shir Yee who asked about ministry efforts to address Sabah’s energy and water infrastructure gap threatening national security.
Wong stated that the absence of a large-capacity power plant on Sabah’s East Coast exposed national security assets during last month’s massive power outage.
As a comprehensive solution, the Sabah government is focusing on five main approaches including Large Scale Solar projects and Battery Energy Storage System on the east coast.
Other initiatives include a floating Liquefied Natural Gas power plant in Tawau and a 141-megawatt hydro project in Lahad Datu.
A geothermal-based power generation project with 100 MW potential capacity in Tawau is also being developed.
The state government has submitted an application for allocation for the Southern Link Transmission Line construction under the 13th Malaysia Plan to the Ministry of Economy.
The federal government has agreed that development allocation for Sabah’s electricity supply projects be provided as loans through the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation.
The federal government will continue channeling energy subsidies to Sabah until 2030 with an indicative total of RM3.54 billion.
This includes subsidies for fuel, large-scale solar, tariffs, and renewable energy.
Sabah’s basic electricity tariff is 34.52 sen per kilowatt-hour while the overall cost of electricity supply to consumers is 52 sen/kWh for 2024.
The gap between tariff and cost means Sabah Electricity cannot operate without federal government subsidy support.
To ensure guaranteed access to water supply, the federal government approved RM2.9 billion as loans for 16 water supply projects in Sabah under the 12th Malaysia Plan.
This includes construction of new water treatment plants and upgrading of existing systems.
Four projects are under the RM300 million allocation announced by the Prime Minister to resolve water supply issues in Sabah.
All 16 ongoing projects encompass new water treatment plants, upgrades, water resource studies, feasibility studies, and system maintenance.
Phase 1 of the National Non-Revenue Water Reduction Programme Approach 1 has been implemented with RM87.1 million allocation. – Bernama
