Sarawak’s energy landscape has indeed undergone a significant shift in the past decade.
“Our generation mix transitioned from being primarily fossil fuel to predominantly renewable hydropower. This is complemented by natural gas, indigenous coal, off grid diesel, off-grid solar with floating solar in the plan. Our balanced approach to energy development has allowed us to address the energy trilemma of sustainability, security and affordability with a good measure of flexibility,” said Premier Sarawak, YAB Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg in his opening address at the Sustainability and Renewable Energy Forum 3.0 on 6 September 2023 in Kuching.
Premier further stress that under the Post COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030, Sarawak is restructuring diversifying its economy into high value downstream industries with the aim of creating a thriving society that is driven by data and innovation and prioritise environmental sustainability, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals or UN SDGs.
“Under this new strategic initiative, renewable energy has been identified as a key enabler for us to achieve our development goals.”
The electricity sector – led by Sarawak Energy – was tasked with accomplishing the following three targets over the next decade:
• Maintain at least 60% renewable energy capacity mix by 2030, including solar and other alternative energy sources.
• Reduce CO2 emissions by 600k tons per annum by electrifying Sarawak’s mobility fleet by 2030.
• Achieve more than 15% income from foreign markets, including the pursuit of power exports.
“We can also proclaim we are home to Southeast Asia’s first integrated hydrogen production plant and refuelling station using predominantly renewable electricity to produce our hydrogen,” said Premier.
Sarawak also exploring other renewable energy sources, such as green hydrogen and solar enabled by renewable hydropower, and as technology advances, we will see how we can make wind and biomass more mainstream sources of energy.
Sarawak Energy is developing its first floating solar farm at the Batang Ai HEP – it is expected to be commissioned in 2024 and will be Sarawak’s first major generation hybrid between hydro and solar.
Once commissioned it is expected to offset around 52 kilo tonnes of carbon emissions annually – contributing to the further decarbonisation of Sarawak electricity grid.
