Sarawak Energy Bhd says it has secured sales for most of the electricity output from the Bakun hydro dam from companies in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).
SEB officials said about 1,800 MW had been sold to customers, representing 75 per cent of firm supply capacity from the Bakun and Murum dams.
Bakun is expected to generate a firm supply of 1,771 MW when fully operational next year. Four of the dam’s eight turbines, each with a 300 MW capacity, have been commissioned.
SEB officials added that new investors coming to SCORE would source their power supply from the 944 MW Murum dam, which is about 60 per cent completed. The Murum dam is located upstream of Bakun dam in the upper reaches of Rejang Basin in central Sarawak and will have a firm output of 635MW when fully operational in 2014, according to SEB.
Tokuyama Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a pioneer SCORE investor, signed a power-purchase agreement with SEB’s unit, Syarikat Sesco Bhd, yesterday for a 10-year supply of 140 MW to its phase I poly-crystalline silicon plant in Samalaju Industrial Park. The phase II project currently under way will require another 220 MW.
SEB chief executive officer Torstein Dale Sjotveit and Tokuyama Malaysia president Akira Sanuki signed the PPA, witnessed by Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Other pioneer SCORE investors which had earlier sealed the PPAs with SEB for long-term supply were OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd (500 MW), Press Metal Bhd (480 MW) and Asia Minerals Ltd (270 MW).
OM Sarawak, which is a 80:20 joint venture between OM Holdings group and Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd, is investing US$500mil in a manganese and ferro-silicon alloy smelting plant which is expected to commence production testing from the second half of 2013.
Press Metal’s new aluminium smelter in Samalaju is expected to start commercial production next month. The new smelter will have a production capacity of 240,000 tonnes per annum when fully operational, which is double the capacity of its smelter in Balingian, Mukah Division.
The Balingian smelter also draws its power supply from the Bakun dam.
Asia Minerals targets its RM790mil manganese ferro-alloy smelting plant to begin commercial production in June or July next year.
Speaking at the PPA signing ceremony, Sjotveit said more PPAs with Score investors were in the pipeline, adding that SEB was hopeful to ink them before year-end.
In a release, SEB said to cater to the increasingly strong power demand from new potential Score investors, it had embarked on its next phase of generation capacity expansion.
“This phase includes the development of the Baram dam project where studies, including soil investigations, and the relevant processes like community consultations have started.
“SEB is also embarking on a full-scale social and environmental impact assessment (SEIA) for the project. The final investment decision on the project will be made upon completion of the studies and SEIA, and upon getting all the relevant approvals from the authorities,” it added.
Taib said community leaders in Baram had assured him that they welcomed the dam project which some local villagers had rejected.
The Baram dam project is expected to have an installed capacity of 1,000 MW.
SEB’s next phase generation capacity expansion also includes the development of a 600-MW Balingian coal-fired power plant.
Meanwhile, Sanuki said Tokuyama phase I project was 80 per cent completed and would start partial production in June next year.
“The construction of phase II project started in February this year,” he added. When fully operational, the plant would have a capacity of 6,000 tonnes per year.
Sanuki said poly-silicon would be used for solar application, a renewable energy like hydro power.
He said Tokuyama had chosen Sarawak for its second ploy-crystaline silicon plant due to the availability of cost-competitive power from Bakun.
